Orlando City (9-9-7, 34 points) at Sporting Kansas City (6-14-6, 24 points)
When: Saturday, 8:30 p.m
Where: Children's Mercy Park, Kansas City, MO
TV: MLS Season Pass on Apple TV (free)
Radio: 96.9 the Game FM, (English), Mega 97.1 (Spanish)
Everything you need to know for the Lions' Saturday night match at Sporting Kansas City in "The Road Ahead" driven by Audi:
Milestones
- Orlando City has not been defeated in regulation in eight consecutive matches, the second-longest streak in club history. While City did fall in a penalty shootout to Cruz Azul in Leagues Cup, the Lions’ last outright loss came at New York City FC on June 28.
- At 24 assists, Facundo Torres is two away from tying Nani for second on the all-time charts. Torres’ next goal will be his 40th for the club.
- Nicolás Lodeiro’s next assist will tie the club’s single season record of 12, set by Torres in 2022 and Mauricio Pereyra in 2023.
- César Araújo’s next start will be his 100th for Orlando City in all competitions.
Stats & Storylines
- Orlando City returns to MLS regular season play this weekend in Kansas City after the Leagues Cup break. The Lions were the best team in the league after Leagues Cup last season, going 8-1-2 across 11 matches following the summer tournament. Orlando scored 21 goals across those 11 games last season while conceding just 11 times, posting four clean sheets, including three away from home.
- Thanks to a 4-0-1 July, the Lions have climbed to seventh in the Eastern Conference, four points clear of the Wild Card round with a game in hand over eighth-place Toronto FC. With nine matches remaining, Orlando City is seven points behind the New York Red Bulls for fourth place and home field advantage in the first round of the MLS Cup Playoffs.
- As usual under Oscar Pareja, the Lions’ away form has been among the league’s best, especially in recent weeks. Orlando City has won three straight road games, defeating Toronto, New England, and Nashville in July before Leagues Cup. City is set to play away from home this weekend for the first time since July 17.
- Thanks to this recent run, Orlando sports the league’s fourth-best away record at 6-4-3, tied with Vancouver and trailing only Cincinnati (9-2-1), Miami (8-2-2), and Columbus (6-3-3).
- Goalkeeper Pedro Gallese enjoyed an exceptional Leagues Cup, saving 15 of 17 shots on his goal, including a penalty kick from longtime Orlando villain Josef Martínez in the opening game against Montréal. Gallese saved six shots while posting a clean sheet in his last game against Cruz Azul.
- The Lions bolstered their attacking group last week, signing winger Yutaro Tsukada to a first-team contract through next season with options for a further two years. Tsukada was drafted with the No. 25 pick of the 2024 SuperDraft out of WVU and has been stellar in MLS NEXT Pro, scoring five goals and adding five assists in 1150 minutes for Orlando City B. The 23-year-old Tokyo native has already made a pair of cameos for the first team while on Short-Term deals.
Series History
All-time vs. Sporting Kansas City - 3-2-2, +2 GD (1-2-1, -1 GD away)
MLS only vs. Sporting Kansas City - Same
2015 - W 3-1 (H)
2016 - L 2-1 (A)
2017 - D 2-2 (H)
2018 - L 1-0 (A)
2019 - W 1-0 (H)
2020 - W 1-2 (A)
2021 - D 1-1 (A)
Meet the opponent: Sporting Kansas City
- Orlando City and Sporting Kansas City played every year for the Lions’ first seven seasons in MLS, but this weekend’s game will mark the first time the two sides have faced off since April 23, 2021. The match will be the third straight in the series played at Children’s Mercy Park in Kansas City.
- Orlando is unbeaten in three against SKC, including a road win in 2020 with goals from Tesho Akindele and Benji Michel and a comeback draw in 2021 which famously saw Nani score a backheel equalizer in the second half.
- Oscar Pareja and SKC legend Peter Vermes have played each other to a stalemate over the years, with the two coaches holding a 5-5-5 record in MLS regular season action against the other since Pareja first stepped into the Colorado Rapids job in 2012. If you include other competitions, though, Vermes has the edge, knocking a Pareja team out of the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup on four separate occasions.
- Sporting has endured a difficult 2024 season, sitting 12th in the Western Conference on just 24 points, nine back of ninth-place Minnesota for the final MLS Cup Playoffs spot. SKC has conceded 52 goals, an average of two per game and the second-most of any team in MLS this season (San Jose, 61).
- After a seven-game losing streak from April 27-June 1, SKC has started to come around a bit. Kansas City is 3-2-1 in its past six league matches and advanced out of its group in the Leagues Cup, though it was smashed 4-0 by Columbus in the Round of 32. SKC is also alive in this season’s revamped U.S. Open Cup and is set to play a semifinal match against USL Championship’s Indy Eleven on August 27, three days after the Orlando game.
- SKC stars Alan Pulido and Johnny Russell have both been somewhat limited by injury this season, contributing just four goals and four assists each. Pulido scored 14 times last season while Russell has 60 career MLS regular season goals for SKC, including one against Orlando in 2021. SKC’s top goalscorer in 2024 is Willy Agada, who has struck nine times in just 1266 minutes.
