Welcome to your match thread for a midweek game between Orlando City (5-9-6, 21 points) and Toronto FC (7-11-3, 24 points) at BMO Field (7:30 p.m., MLS Season Pass on Apple TV+). It's the second and final scheduled meeting between the Eastern Conference rivals this season.

Here's what you need to know before the game.

Story

Orlando is 8-9-3 in the evenly matched regular season series. The Lions had a four-game winning streak and an eight-game unbeaten streak (6-0-2) in the series that ended in April (more on that below). Orlando is 3-4-3 on the road in the series, but one of those “away wins” came at the Lions' home stadium while Toronto was living a nomadic existence during travel restrictions due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The teams met in Orlando on April 27, and the Lions led for most of the game thanks to a goal from Duncan McGuire. However, the Reds turned the game around just before the end, scoring two goals in the final three minutes of regulation time. Tyrese Spicer and Prince Owusu scored the goals to help Toronto to a 2-1 victory.

The last meeting in Toronto came on Decision Day last season on October 21, when McGuire came off the bench to score two goals to beat Toronto 2-0. The teams met in Orlando on July 4, 2023, with Orlando City beating the Reds 4-0 on Independence Day. Cesar Araujo, McGuire, Dagur Dan Thorhallsson and Ercan Kara scored for the Lions, and Toronto finished the game with ten men after Federico Bernardeschi was shown his second yellow card just after the hour mark.

Orlando City also defeated the Reds 4-0 in their last match on September 17, 2022 at Exploria Stadium. Facundo Torres, Kara and Tesho Akindele scored goals for the Lions, and Lukas MacNaughton also scored an own goal. The Lions won 1-0 at BMO Field on May 14, 2022, thanks to a 92nd-minute goal from Kyle Smith, who headed a corner kick to the far post to give the Lions the win.

The Lions went 2-0-1 in three meetings with Toronto FC in 2021. The teams drew 1-1 at BMO Field on July 17, 2021. Jozy Altidore came off the bench to score the first goal, but Nani equalized from the penalty spot minutes later. Benji Michel drew the penalty, which was initially ruled a foul on the Orlando winger but was overturned after video review by referee Marcos de Oliveira.

Toronto's other “home” game of the 2021 season came on June 19 at Exploria Stadium. The Reds struggled with pandemic restrictions in Canada that forced the team to play its home games in the United States. Orlando City built an early 2-0 lead on goals from Akindele and Nani, but Toronto equalized at halftime on goals from Ayo Akinola and Jonathan Osorio. Junior Urso scored late to help the Lions to a 3-2 victory. The teams met for the first time this year on May 22, and Orlando City won 1-0 on a goal from Akindele.

Due to the pandemic, the teams did not play in 2020. Before the pandemic-related suspension of play in MLS, the teams last met on August 10, 2019 in Toronto, with the Lions earning a point in a 1-1 draw at BMO Field. Michel opened the scoring in the 69th minute, but the Reds equalized in the 77th minute on a set piece. The teams' other meeting this season came on May 4, 2019, when the Reds left Orlando with a 2-0 win, courtesy of goals from Osorio and Jay Chapman.

The teams split their 2018 season series. Orlando City earned a 2-1 home victory on July 14, 2018 in James O'Connor's first home game as head coach of the Lions. Chris Schuler and Dom Dwyer gave City a 2-0 lead and Nick Hagglund spoiled the shutout in the 94th minute on a Sebastian Giovinco free kick. In the 2018 game in Toronto, the Reds won 2-1 at BMO Field on an 87th minute goal by Ryan Telfer.

Toronto crushed Orlando 3-1 on July 5, 2017. Altidore and Giovinco combined to score Toronto's three goals, with Carlos Rivas setting up Orlando's consolation goal. In the first meeting in 2017, Orlando had more possession, shots and passes than the hosts and played like the better team that night. However, the Lions could not overcome a two-goal deficit and Giovinco's first-half brace led Toronto to a 2-1 victory.

The Lions earned their first win of the series on June 25, 2016, with a 3-2 victory at Camping World Stadium. Kaká scored a penalty in the 10th minute of stoppage time to seal the win. Cyle Larin and Adrian Winter put OCSC ahead, but Jordan Hamilton and Justin Morrow equalized before the captain scored the winning goal just before the end. The Reds won the second game in Orlando in 2016, 2-1, with a late goal from Altidore. Tosaint Ricketts gave Toronto an early lead, but the Lions fought back with a goal from Larin. The teams also played out a 0-0 draw on September 28 of the same year, with Toronto holding off the Lions with 10 men for the final 20 minutes of the game.

In 2015, Toronto took all nine points in their three encounters, defeating Orlando by an aggregate score of 11-1.

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Orlando City enters Saturday's game off the back of a brutal 4-2 loss at New York City FC, with goalkeeper Mason Stajduhar having to leave the game on a stretcher after colliding with Malachi Jones early in the game. Both players required surgery on broken tibias and fibulae and are out for the rest of the season. The Lions fell behind early, collapsed in first-half stoppage time and conceded two more goals, but then pulled two goals back and added a fourth in the last minute to end a modest two-game unbeaten streak and Orlando's away record has dropped to 3-4-3.

The Lions have struggled to score goals in 2024, but have managed to score eight goals in their last three games. The problem is that Orlando City has also conceded eight goals during that period and played 1-1-1 in their last three games.

Toronto FC made tremendous progress early in the season under John Herdman despite several key players being out with injuries. However, the Reds have lost four straight games and are winless in their last seven (0-5-2). NYCFC, on the other hand, had lost three straight games and failed to score in their last two games until the Lions came to town on Saturday. Orlando continues to be a team that struggles against struggling teams. Toronto FC has a 5-5-0 record at home this season.

The Lions will need to keep an eye on Bernardeschi, as the Italian dominates Toronto's attack and is the Reds' leader in goals (8) and assists (5). He shares the club lead in the latter category with fellow countryman Lorenzo Insigne, who has contributed four goals to Toronto's attack this season. Owusu is another goal threat and is second on the team in goals (6), despite scoring just once since scoring the game-winning goal against Orlando City in April.

“Toronto has a game mode that we already know; we have played against them at home. We saw them play against Atlanta,” Orlando City head coach Oscar Pareja said before the game. “They usually play with a defensive five. We know the challenges and opportunities that these things present us and that can affect our approach.”

Orlando City will be without Stajduhar (lower leg), Michael Halliday (knee) and David Brekalo (international), while Homegrown fullback Tahir Reid-Brown (thigh) is listed as questionable. The good news is that Pedro Gallese, Wilder Cartagena and Ramiro Enrique are no longer on the availability list and trained with the Lions earlier this week. At the time of this writing, Toronto had not released the club's match notes, but over the weekend Alonso Coello (thigh), Brandon Servania (knee) and Tyrese Spicer (back) were listed as out and Matty Longstaff (knee) as questionable, although Longstaff started in the Reds' 2-1 win over Atlanta. Additionally, Sean Johnson, Richie Laryea and Jonathan Osorio are all on international duty – the latter two with Canada, who reached the knockout rounds.

Match content

Official lineups

Orlando City (4-2-3-1)

goalkeeper: Pedro Gallese.

defender: Kyle Smith, Robin Jansson, Rodrigo Schlegel, Dagur Dan Thorhallsson.

Defensive midfielders: Wild Cartagena, Cesar Araujo.

Attacking midfielders: Ivan Angulo, Martin Ojeda, Facundo Torres.

Forward: Duncan McGuire.

Bank: Carlos Mercado, Rafael Santos, Alex Freeman, Felipe, Jeorgio Kocevski, Nico Lodeiro, Ramiro Enrique, Luis Muriel, Jack Lynn.

Toronto (3-4-3)

goalkeeper: Sean Johnson.

defender: Raoul Petretta, Aime Mabika, Nicksoen Gomis,.

Full-back/Midfielder: Kosi Thompson, Deybi Flores, Matty Longstaff, Federico Bernardeschi.

Forward: Lorenzo Insigne, Prince Owusu, Derrick Etienne, Jr.

Bank: Luka Gavran, Jahkeele Marshall-Rutty, Shane O'Neill, Kobe Franklin, Deandre Kerr, Markus Cimermancic, Sigurd Rosted, Cassius Mailula, Nathaniel Edwards.

referee

Reference: Mark Allatin.
AR1: Chris Wattam.
AR2: Gianni Facchini.
4.: Filip Dujic.
VAR: Jorge Gonzalez.
AVAR: Peter Balciunas.

How to watch

Playing time: 19:30 o'clock

Venue: BMO Field – Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

TV/Streaming: MLS Season Pass on Apple TV+.

Radio: FM 96.9 The Game (English), Mega 97.1 FM (Spanish).

Twitter: For quick reactions and live updates follow us at @TheManeLandand the official Twitter feed of Orlando City (@OrlandoCitySC).

Have fun playing. Go City!