New York City FC vs. Orlando City SC | 2018 MLS Match Preview

Dylan Butler

New York City FC vs. Orlando City SC
2018 MLS Regular Season – Week 14
Yankee Stadium — Bronx, N.Y.
June 2 - 7:30 pm ET
WATCH: ESPN+, MLS LIVE on DAZN (Canada)

New York City FC are hoping to continue their perfect form at Yankee Stadium, where they have won all five games they’ve played, against a streaky Orlando City SC squad that has lost three in a row after six straight wins.

NYCFC are coming off a 3-1 road loss to the Houston Dynamo, their third defeat in their last four games away from the Bronx, while the Lions suffered a 2-1 defeat at home to the Chicago Fire.

This is the second meeting in the Bronx this year between the Eastern Conference rivals, with NYCFC cruising to a 2-0 win on March 17.

New York City FC

Patrick Vieira made one change to the side that defeated the Colorado Rapids, 4-0, the previous week, with Ismael Tajouri-Shradi replacing Anton Tinnerholm in a 3-4-1-2 formation he utilized for a second straight game.

David Villa opened the scoring in the sixth minute with his eighth goal of the year, but after midfielder Yangel Herrera went down with what appeared to be a serious ankle injury, Alejandro Fuenmayor leveled for Houston in the 21st minute and Tomas Martinez and Alberth Elis added second-half goals as NYCFC (7-3-3) lost to Houston for the first time.

“It is a big loss, of course, because Yangel has been a big part of the success that we’ve had so far,” Vieira said after training Wednesday. “But that will give, as well, opportunity to players who didn’t play much to step in and try to show how good they are. There are players like Tommy [McNamara], Kwame [Awuah] has been training really well the last couple of weeks. That will give them the opportunity to play, but of course losing Yangel its a big blow for us.”

Suspended: None
Suspended after next caution: M - Yangel Herrera
International duty: D - Ronald Matarrita, M - Rodney Wallace
Injury Report: OUT: M - Yangel Herrera (ankle)

Projected Starting XI
(4-2-3-1, right to left)
GK: Sean Johnson — Anton Tinnerholm, Maxime Chanot, Alex Callens, Ben Sweat — Alex Ring, Ebenezer Ofori — Ismael Tajouri-Shradi, Maxi Moralez, Jo-Inge Berget — David Villa

Notes: Villa has tallied six goals in nine games against Orlando City. Only Sebastian Giovinco (eight) has more goals against the Lions. … NYCFC have won a franchise-record six consecutive regular season matches at home, outscoring visitors 17-2. Only Portland (10) has a longer active streak.

Orlando City SC

Jason Kreis made four changes to the squad that lost 2-1 to Toronto FC the week before, with RJ Allen, Chris Schuler and Tony Rocha starting in a reworked back four and Josue Colman replacing Stefano Pinho as the lone striker with Dom Dwyer missing his second straight game with a lower body injury.

After falling behind on a stunning strike by Aleksandar Katai in the 13th minute, Cristian Higuita leveled for Orlando (6-5-1) in the 28th minute. The game remained tied until Alan Gordon struck another late winner as the visitors prevailed, 2-1.

“I certainly can’t remember a night where I felt we were more dominant, with this club or maybe with any club, to be honest,” Kreis said after the game. “You walk out of this night thinking about how cruel this game can be, how cruel this job can be and trying to grasp at the positives for sure, but I’m just really, really frustrated right now.”

Suspended: None
Suspended after next caution: D - Mohamed El-Munir
International duty: M - Yoshi Yotun, D - Amro Tarek
Injury Report: OUT: GK - Mason Stajduhar, D - Chris Schuler (broken arm); QUESTIONABLE: F - Dom Dwyer (lower body injury), D - Scott Sutter (lower body injury), D - Lamine Sane (lower body injury), D - Jonathan Spector (concussion)

Projected Starting XI
(4-2-3-1, right to left)
GK: Joe Bendik — RJ Allen, Donny Toia, Tony Rocha, Mohamed El-Munir — Uri Rosell, Cristian Higuita — Chris Mueller, Sacha Kljestan, Justin Meram — Josue Colman

Notes: In the seven games Dwyer has played in this season, Orlando is averaging 2.6 points and 2.6 goals per game. In the five games Dwyer has not appeared in, the Lions are averaging 0.2 points and 0.8 goals per game. … The Lions enter the weekend having lost three straight games in MLS play, tied for their longest in franchise history. They have conceded two goals in all three matches.

All-Time Series

Overall: New York City FC 3 wins, 16 goals … Orlando City SC 5 wins, 14 goals … 2 ties
At New York City: NYCFC 2 wins, 10 goals … Orlando City SC 2 wins, 8 goals … 1 tie
Last meeting at New York City: NYCFC 2, Orlando City SC 0 (March 17, 2018)