The match will be locally televised on WRDQ TV27 and transmitted in English on Real Radio 104.1 FM and in Spanish on La Nueva 990 AM.
“First and foremost with the tactical shape they’ve been playing, it’s very, very different,” Head Coach Jason Kreis said. “Very aggressive-minded shape that puts them with some really good numbers in their attacking phases but they’re also taking a lot of risk. I think that they’ve been fortunate in the past few games or the games before the New York City game, not to give up more goals than they had. And then in the New York City game I think they got punished a little bit. That’s what we will be looking to exploit.”
This is the second meeting of the season between these two teams. On April 9, Servando Carrasco scored his first goal as a Lion on Will Johnson’s first assist with the team to defeat New York 1-0. The win was the third of an MLS record five consecutive victories to open Orlando City Stadium.
Cyle Larin’s nine goals lead the team and his most recent strike, in Saturday’s 2-1 loss at Montreal, made Larin the youngest player in MLS history to reach 40 career goals. Larin and Dom Dwyer have a combined eight goals and one assist in six games at Red Bull Arena. Peruvian attacking midfielder Yoshimar Yotún, who signed as a Designated Player on Aug. 4, could potentially make his Orlando City debut, as could midfielder Dillon Powers, who was acquired via trade on Aug. 10.
New York is coming off a 3-2 loss to New York City FC. Bradley Wright-Phillips equalized in the 41st minute before scoring again in the 64th to take the lead. David Villa leveled the match six minutes later and three minutes after that completed his first career MLS hat-trick from the penalty spot.
Wright-Phillips is third in MLS with 13 goals. Sacha Kljestan leads the league with 12 assists while Luis Robles is second in the league with 78 saves.
The match will follow the Special Olympics Unified Sports closed-door friendly between Special Olympics Florida and Special Olympics New Jersey. The teams, which are made up of Special Olympics athletes and Unified teammates (players without intellectual disabilities), will play two 20-minute halves with seven a side. Orlando City and Special Olympics Florida also participated in a Special Olympics Unified match before the Atlanta United match on July 21 and in Chicago in August 2016.
Orlando City enters the match two points behind sixth-place Columbus Crew SC with a game in hand and five points behind both fourth-place New York and fifth-place Atlanta.
The match is part of the second consecutive tripleheader Saturday for Orlando City SC. Orlando City B will face the Richmond Kickers at 7 p.m. ET while Orlando Pride hosts Sky Blue FC at 7:30 p.m. ET.
The Lions return home on Saturday, Aug. 19 to face Columbus Crew SC. Kickoff is set for 7:30 p.m. ET at Orlando City Stadium.
About Orlando City SC:
After winning three USL Pro regular season championships and two postseason titles over a four-year span, Orlando City SC quickly set the standard for professional soccer clubs both on and off the field and was awarded the 21st Major League Soccer (MLS) franchise on Nov. 19, 2013. The Lions played their first two seasons in MLS at the Orlando Citrus Bowl, where they held the second-highest average attendance in MLS. In 2016, the Club launched Orlando Pride in the National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL) and Orlando City B in the United Soccer League (USL).
In March 2017, Orlando City SC unveiled its brand new, privately financed downtown stadium. With a capacity of 25,500 fans, Orlando City Stadium creates the most exciting game-day experience for fans in the country.
For more information, visitwww.orlandocitysc.com,www.orlando-pride.com or www.orlandocityb.com.