This weekend, Orlando City will welcome Western Conference rivals Minnesota United to the Inter&Co Stadium for a gameweek three showdown in the 2024 MLS season.
The hosts are still in search of their first win of the 2024 league campaign and are currently in 12th place with a single point, while the visitors are unbeaten after two games and are in fifth place with four points.
Match preview
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Orlando City, under the guidance of Oscar Pareja, performed beyond what many had anticipated at the outset of the 2023 season by managing to secure a fourth-placed finish in the Eastern Conference.
However, based on the opening two games of their 2024 campaign, it is already looking quite difficult to accurately assess how the Lions will fare this year owing to a couple of questionable performances.
The first of those was a scoreless draw against Montreal to get the season underway, and that was followed by a 5-0 drubbing at the hands of Inter Miami, with Luis Suarez and Lionel Messi headlining the tie with a brace apiece.
Indeed, Orlando are among a mere three teams in MLS that have yet to score a goal in the league this season, but they did display their offensive prowess by netting six goals against Canadian team Cavalry FC over two legs in the CONCACAF Champions Cup.
While a victory will undoubtedly be the primary goal here, traveling back and forth between Canada and Fort Lauderdale can take its toll on a team, particularly when it is at the very start of a demanding schedule of six matches in just 18 days, and it will be interesting to see how Pareja lines his side up in this one with a second-leg Champions Cup fixture to prepare for in just four days.
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Meanwhile, Minnesota United are up and running in 2024, and most would agree that the initial signs over the first two games of the new season paint a promising picture for the Loons faithful for the rest of the campaign.
The Loons opened the season with an excellent performance against Austin, securing a well-deserved 2-1 win on the road before holding the defending champions Columbus Crew to a 1-1 draw last weekend.
Against Crew, MNUFC were unafraid to field several of their younger players and were rewarded for their bravery with a point as their youngsters went toe-to-toe with the champions, showing immense composure across the 90.
Newly appointed manager Eric Ramsay will likely be well satisfied with what he has seen from his squad so far and will be eager to keep the momentum going against an opponent that may be feeling the effects of a very busy early-season schedule.
Team News
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With one eye on the midweek trip to Mexico, Pareja may be tempted to shuffle his pack a little here, which could allow Duncan McGuire to return to the starting 11 after featuring on the bench in the Champions Cup.
Facundo Torres netted twice in the first Champions Cup game against Cavalry and has looked very impressive over the first few games. He should maintain his place in midfield alongside Martin Ojeda and Ivan Angulo.
Ramsay, on the other hand, will be without the services of Franco Fragapane and Robin Lod for this match due to a thigh and leg injury, respectively, while Emanuel Reynoso is out for the foreseeable future with a knock to his knee.
Bongokuhle Hlongwane has resumed first-team training but has been flagged as a doubt here as he continues to work his way back to full fitness.
Orlando City possible starting lineup:
Gallese; Thorhallsson; Schlegel, Jansson, Santos; Araujo, Cartagena; Torres, Ojeda, Angulo; McGuire
Minnesota United possible starting lineup:
Clair; Taylor, Boxall, Tapias, Rosales; Dotson, Trapp, Bran; Jeong, Pukki, Clark
We say: Orlando City 1-1 Minnesota United
While Orlando have made a less-than-impressive start to the season, they do still have a very good squad of players, and it should just be a matter of time until they find high gear. For now, though, Minnesota are the ones with the form and we feel they will keep their unbeaten record intact by taking a point from this match.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Devesh Jaganath
