Orlando City (14-6-8, 50 points) at New York City FC (6-10-13, 31 points)
When: Wednesday, 7:30 PM
Where: Citi Field, Queens, New York
Radio: 96.9 The Game (English), Acción 97.9 FM (Spanish)
Everything you need to know for Orlando City at NYCFC in "The Road Ahead" driven by Audi:
Milestone watch
-- Saturday’s thrilling comeback victory over the Columbus Crew was Orlando City’s 100th MLS regular season win. With a win against NYCFC on Wednesday, Orlando will set a new single-season record for wins (15) and points (53), snapping marks set in 2022 and 2021, respectively. A draw would bring the club level with the points record.
-- Oscar Pareja’s next win will be his 60th as Orlando City head coach.
-- Facundo Torres is currently tied with club legend Kaká for third on Orlando City’s all-time scoring charts. Torres’ next goal would give him sole possession of third place and leave him chasing Cyle Larin (44) and Nani (31) at the top of the list.
-- Mauricio Pereyra’s next assist will give him double-digit helpers in three consecutive seasons. Pereyra has 44 career assists for Orlando City, 18 more than any other player.
Stats and storylines
-- “The hottest team in MLS is in Florida. It’s just not the part of Florida you think.” So says MLS analyst Matt Doyle in his weekly column, as Orlando City ran its record to 4-0-1 since the Leagues Cup break and 7-1-1 in league play since July 1. The Lions now sit in second place in both the Eastern Conference and Supporters’ Shield standings with six matches remaining in the 2023 season.
-- Orlando continues to utterly dominate Columbus, going 8-1-1 against the Crew in the clubs’ past ten meetings. Columbus blew a two-goal lead in both games, drawing 2-2 at Lower.com Field back in May before Saturday’s capitulation to Facundo Torres and Ramiro Enrique.
-- You can never count out the Cardiac Cats – after Saturday’s comeback, Orlando City is tied with Philadelphia for the league lead with 14 points gained from losing positions.
-- Per MLS Communications, Enrique became the first player in club history to score an equalizer and a game winner in the 85th minute or later. Also from MLS, Martín Ojeda set a new single-season club record with his fourth match contributing both a goal and an assist this year. Ojeda is up to 6 G/9 A in all competitions for the season despite coming off the bench in half of his 34 appearances.
-- Torres continues to tear up the league in the back half of the campaign. El Cuervo has five goals in his past five matches, the second time this season he’s accomplished that feat. The Uruguayan has 11 G/3 A in all competitions since the start of June and currently sits two goals back of first in the MLS Golden Boot race.
-- Orlando extended its single-season club record home unbeaten run to 11 straight on Saturday night. Now, the Lions head back out on the road, where they have been the top team in MLS this season. Orlando City leads MLS in away wins (7), points (25), and points-per-game (1.79). At 7-3-4 each, the Lions have identical home and away records.
SERIES HISTORY
All-time vs. NYCFC - 7-7-9, -10 GD (2-5-2, -11 GD away)
MLS only vs. NYCFC - 7-7-7, -10 GD (2-5-2, -11 GD away)
- 2015 - D 1-1 (H), L 5-3 (A), W 2-1 (H)
- 2016 - W 0-1 (A), D 2-2 (A), W 2-1 (H)
- 2017 - W 1-0 (H), W 1-2 (A), L 0-3 (H)
- 2018 - L 2-0 (A), L 3-0 (A), L 0-2 (H)
- 2019 - D 2-2 (H), D 1-1 (A), D 1-1 (5-4) (H/USOC)
- 2020 - W 3-1 (N), D 1-1 (H), D 1-1 (6-5) (H/MLS Cup Playoffs)
- 2021 - D 1-1 (H), L 5-0 (A)
- 2022 - W 2-1 (H), L 2-1 (A)
- 2023 - D 1-1 (H)
Meet the opponent: New York City FC
-- Orlando City and NYCFC go at it for the 24th time on Wednesday night, the most matches the Lions have contested against any opponent in their history. The two teams played to a tight 1-1 draw back on May 17, as Gabriel Segal broke hearts around Exploria Stadium with an 89th-minute equalizer that canceled out Ercan Kara’s opener.
-- The two 2015 expansion sides will meet in a brand-new venue for the rivalry on Wednesday – Citi Field, home of MLB’s New York Mets. NYCFC is 2-3-1 at Citi Field this season, last playing in Queens on August 20 in a 2-0 loss to Minnesota United. New York City is 3-1-5 at its primary home ground, Yankee Stadium.
-- The Pigeons are in serious danger of missing the MLS Cup Playoffs for the first time since their inaugural season in 2015, sitting four points below the playoff line in 12th place with five matches remaining in their season. NYCFC won MLS Cup in 2021 and have reached the Eastern Conference Semifinals in six of the past seven seasons.
-- NYCFC added a former Lion during the summer window, acquiring midfielder Andrés Perea on loan from Philadelphia in exchange for $300,000 in 2024 General Allocation Money. Perea scored against Orlando earlier this season for the Union and has gone straight into Nick Cushing’s starting XI for NYCFC.
