The teams positioned third in the Major League Soccer Eastern and Western Conferences respectively will square off on Saturday, as Orlando City host FC Dallas.
After 13 games of the season, the visitors sit on 22 points, while their hosts have just one fewer, and both will look to strengthen their standing in the playoff places.
Match preview
© Reuters
Despite failing to put a consistent winning run together thus far, Orlando City have enjoyed a relatively strong start to the MLS season on the whole, establishing themselves at the top end of the Eastern Conference with 21 points from their opening 13 matches.
They come into the weekend having won four of their last seven games, while losing two, having bounced back from the most recent defeat with a 1-0 win away at Toronto thanks to Kyle Smith's injury-time winner.
That triumph was followed by a trip to Austin FC in their latest MLS outing, and Oscar Pareja's side looked set to see out an impressive 2-1 win, despite playing the final 20 minutes with nine men following red cards to Rodrigo Schlegel and Cesar Araujo, only for the hosts to snatch a point in the 95th minute through Moussa Djitte.
The Lions dropped two points behind second-placed New York City in their Conference as a result of that late equaliser, but they now come into Saturday's game on the back of a penalty shootout triumph in the US Open Cup round of 16 against Inter Miami, after Facundo Torres had levelled the tie at 1-1 in extra time.
Now with their focus back on the league, Pareja's side will look to put last week's disappointment behind them and bounce back to winning ways to ensure they remain in a strong position at the top end of the Eastern Conference table.
© Reuters
Dallas, meanwhile, arrive looking to bounce back from consecutive league defeats after making a particularly impressive start to the campaign.
They began the season with a draw and a defeat but quickly kicked into gear, going unbeaten for the next nine league games as they amassed 21 points thanks to six victories and three draws.
That run culminated in back-to-back wins over Seattle Sounders and Los Angeles Galaxy, with a Jesus Ferreira brace and a Paul Arriola goal sealing all three points for Nico Estevez's side.
Their hot streak was eventually put to an end by a defeat away at Vancouver Whitecaps, though, and the Burn now head into the weekend on the back of a second consecutive loss as they were beaten 2-1 at home to Minnesota United on Monday, with Arriola's 59th-minute goal not enough to salvage a result after the visitors had gone 2-0 up.
Having now dropped to third spot in the Western Conference, albeit with a healthy lead over the fight for lower playoff places, Estevez's men will be keen to bounce back and ensure they do not fall any further as they look to cement a place in the upper echelons of the division.
- W
- L
- W
- L
- W
- D
- W
- L
- W
- W
- D
- W
- W
- D
- W
- W
- L
- L
- D
- W
- L
- W
- L
- L
Team News
© Reuters
Orlando City are without centre-back Rodrigo Schlegel and midfielder Cesar Araujo on Saturday, as they will serve suspensions after being sent off in the game against Austin.
Tesho Akindele and Alexandre Pato were both handed starts for their recent US Open Cup clash after finding regular minutes hard to come by so far, and the duo will be pushing to stay in attack.
However, they will face competition from the likes of Ercan Kara and Mauricio Pereyra, who have more often been deployed down the middle with Facundo Torres and Junior Urso providing quality on the wings.
Dallas' line will be led by star man Jesus Ferreira, who has enjoyed a particularly impressive start to the season, netting nine goals in the opening 13 matches.
Winger Paul Arriola is another threat going forward, having hit the net five times and provided three assists thus far.
Elsewhere, Jose Antonio Martinez was preferred over Matt Hedges alongside Nkosi Tafari at the heart of the back four last time out, and Estevez is likely to stick with that pair on Saturday.
Orlando City possible starting lineup:
Gallese; Teixeira, Jansson, Moutinho, Smith; Perea, Mendez; Urso, Pereyra, Torres; Kara
Dallas possible starting lineup:
Maurer; Nanu, Tafari, Martinez, Farfan; Pomykal, Quignon, Ntsabeleng; Arriola, Ferreira, Obrian
We say: Orlando City 2-1 Dallas
The two teams' equally positive starts to the campaign makes this an intriguing counter that could go either way, but we see the visitors' recent struggles tipping the balance in favour of Orlando.
Dallas should certainly cause their opponents problems, but, with home advantage, Pareja's men have the quality to take all three points.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Top tip
Sam Varley
