Orlando City (14-7-10, 52 points) vs Columbus Crew(13-8-11, 50 points)
When: Saturday, 7:30 p.m. ET
Where: Inter&Co Stadium, Orlando, Fla
Attend: Tickets
TV: MLS Season Pass on Apple TV (subscription required)
Radio: AM 810 Fox Sports Radio, (English), Mega 97.1 (Spanish)
Everything you need to know for the Lions' penultimate home match in "The Road Ahead" driven by Audi:
Milestones
- Orlando City’s next goal will be its 60th of the 2025 regular season, setting a new single-season club record for goalscoring. The Lions’ current haul of 59 matches last year’s total.
- Martín Ojeda’s next goal, his 21st of 2025, will set a new single-season record for Orlando City in all competitions, surpassing Facundo Torres’ 20-goal haul in 2024. Ojeda would also tie Cyle Larin’s 17-goal 2015 for the most goals scored in an MLS regular season in club history.
- Ojeda is two assists away from achieving the first 20/20 season in club history. Two goal contributions of any kind would give Ojeda 40 combined goals and assists for the season across all competitions.
- Duncan McGuire’s next goal will be his 30th for Orlando City in all competitions. McGuire is two goals away from tying Nani for fourth in club history at 31 goals.
- Pedro Gallese is three appearances away from 200 in all competitions for Orlando City.
- A win on Saturday would mark the first time the Lions have won six consecutive home games in the same season. Orlando’s overall club record for home wins is six straight, accomplished across the last home game of 2016 and the first five of the 2017 campaign.
Stats & Storylines
- Alex Freeman’s 90+6’ equalizer, Orlando City’s fifth chance at goal in second-half stoppage time, was finally enough to rescue a point for the Lions in Cincinnati last week. Orlando tallied its highest expected goals total of the season (3.41, per Opta), creating seven “big” chances in the game.
- Freeman’s goal was his sixth of the season and his eleventh total goal contribution in all competitions (6g/5a). Only one defender in MLS (Minnesota’s Anthony Markanich, 7) has more goals than Freeman this season, and just four other players (Kai Wagner, Jordi Alba, Andrew Gutman, Andy Nájar) have more goal contributions in league play.
- Summer acquisition Tyrese Spicer came up big for the second straight match for Orlando, providing a point-earning assist deep into second half stoppage time once again. Spicer has proved a perfect fit in Oscar Pareja’s system – the Trinidad international is up to 1g/2a in just 224 MLS minutes as a Lion and already has more goal contributions for Orlando in six games than he did for Toronto FC in 21.
- Chicago’s win in Fort Lauderdale on Tuesday night officially knocked the New York Red Bulls out of postseason contention, ending RBNY’s 15-year run of Audi MLS Cup Playoffs appearances. That means the new longest streak of consecutive playoff appearances in MLS belongs to, you guessed it, Orlando City, who has officially qualified for the postseason for the sixth straight year. Orlando is the only club in MLS to reach the Audi MLS Cup Playoffs in every year of the 2020s so far.
- The Lions’ playoff seed is still very much in question as we head into the final three weeks of the 2025 regular season. Currently seventh on points and fifth in points per game, Orlando City can finish anywhere from second to ninth based on how these next three matchdays play out. The club’s highest-leverage game comes this weekend, with Orlando taking on ninth-place Columbus at Inter&Co Stadium.
Series History
All-time vs. Columbus - 11-9-4, +1 GD (8-4-2, +3 GD home)
MLS only vs. Columbus - 10-8-3, +1 GD (7-3-2, +3 GD home)
2015 - L 3-0 (A), D 2-2 (H), W 2-0 (H/USOC), W 5-2 (H)
2016 - D 2-2 (A), L 1-4 (H)
2017 - L 2-0 (A), D 1-1 (H), L 0-1 (H)
2018 - L 3-2 (A), W 2-1 (H)
2019 - W 0-2 (A), W 1-0 (H)
2020 - W 2-1 (H)
2021 - W 3-2 (H), L 3-2 (A)
2022 - W 0-2 (A), W 2-1 (H)
2023 - D 2-2 (A), W 4-3 (H), L 0-2 (H/MLS Cup Playoffs)
2024 - L 0-2 (H), L 4-3 (A)
2025 - W 1-3 (A)
Meet the opponent: FC Cincinnati
- Orlando picked up one of its biggest wins of 2025 back on July 25 in Columbus, coming back with three goals after the 75th minute to beat the Crew 3-1 at Lower.com Field. Ramiro Enrique scored twice in a three-minute span before Martín Ojeda provided the dagger late on. The Lions snapped a three-game losing streak against the Crew with the victory, improving to 6-4-1 vs. Columbus under Oscar Pareja.
- The Crew are limping into the homestretch, both figuratively and literally. Starting with the loss to Orlando, Columbus is 1-4-3 over its past eight MLS matches, slipping all the way to ninth place in the Eastern Conference. Injuries have hit hard – new DP striker Wessam Abou Ali, star winger Diego Rossi, starting center backs Sean Zawadzki and Rudy Camacho, and wingback Mo Farsi have all been out, while young forward Taha Habroune is away at the FIFA U-20 World Cup.
- Rossi (16g/4a) has been the Crew’s top scorer by far this season, and while he could return for this weekend’s game, his absence has been keenly felt. Spring trade acquisition Dániel Gazdag (3g/4a in 24 appearances) has not produced nearly to the levels he did in Philadelphia, and Abou Ali (3g/1a in 304 minutes) is out for the rest of the regular season after a strong start. USMNT wingback Max Arfsten (4g/6a) will be one to watch, likely matching up against his United States teammate Alex Freeman on the flank.
