21 - Bear on the hunt
Orlando City put on a defensive clinic against Atlanta United on Saturday, keyed by their midfield menace, Júnior Urso. The man they call “The Bear” had a combined 21 defensive actions against the Five Stripes, leading the team in tackles (3), interceptions (2), aerial duel wins (5) and ground duel wins (9), while also posting two ball recoveries. Urso won all five of his aerial duels and nine of his 12 ground duels, both team-high percentages. Not to be outdone, Urso also led the team with three shots. Box-to-box indeed!
11 - Even stevens
Orlando and Atlanta battled to a 0-0 draw last weekend and a look at the box score shows one of the fairer results you’ll see. Not only did both teams take 11 shots, but both teams had exactly three shots on target, two shots blocked and six shots off target. Both teams took six of their shots inside the box and five outside.
1.67 - A sporting pace
Orlando City has experienced a fair degree of success historically against Sporting Kansas City, their next opponent (Friday, 7:30 p.m. ET, FS1/Fox Deportes). The Lions have three wins and a draw in six matches with SKC, taking an average of 1.67 PPG. Orlando City has beaten Sporting KC each of the past two years, with Tesho Akindele scoring in both matches.
20 - They go way back
Oscar Pareja and Peter Vermes will meet for the 20th time in a competitive match on Friday night. The series is nearly even in MLS play, with Vermes holding six wins to five for Pareja along with four draws. However, Vermes has had Pareja’s number in the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup, knocking out Papi’s teams four times from 2012 to 2018. Pareja won the last match in the series when Orlando City took down SKC 2-1 at Children’s Mercy Park last September.
1.5 - FAIRWINDS Credit Union
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