Orlando City SC vs. Seattle Sounders FC | 2018 MLS Match Preview

Dylan Butler

Orlando City SC vs. Seattle Sounders FC
2018 MLS Regular Season — Week 34
Orlando City Stadium — Orlando
October 17 - 7:30 pm ET
WATCH: ESPN+, MLS LIVE on DAZN (Canada)

Orlando City SC will try to play spoilers when they host a Seattle Sounders FC side that have won 11 of their last 13 games when they meet Wednesday night at Orlando City Stadium.

The Lions' winless streak stretched to 12 straight games following a 2-0 loss to the New England Revolution Saturday night, while the Sounders are coming off back-to-back wins over the Colorado Rapids and Houston Dynamo, scoring four goals in each victory.

Orlando City SC

Orlando (7-20-4) lost for the fourth time in the last five games and are now goalless in 450 consecutive minutes after losing to the Revs at Gillette Stadium on Saturday night.

Cristian Penilla and Diego Fagundez scored four minutes apart in the second half for a Revolution team that was eliminated from playoff contention when D.C. United defeated FC Dallas hours earlier.

“Obviously, we’ve had a lot missing, but equally, when you have a lot missing then that presents opportunities for other players as well,” James O’Connor said. “That’s why you have a squad. I think, for us, we did have a number of players missing but your hope is that other players who didn’t get an opportunity can go on and show people and show us what they’ve got.”

Suspended: M - Yoshi Yotun
Suspended after next caution: None
International duty: M - Yoshi Yotun, D - Mohamed El-Munir, D - Amro Tarek
Injury Report: OUT: GK - Mason Stajduhar (Localized Ewing Sarcoma), M - Pierre Da Silva (knee injury), D - Jonathan Spector (back injury); QUESTIONABLE: F - Stefano Pinho (quad injury)

Projected Starting XI
(5-4-1, right to left)
GK: Adam Grinwis — Scott Sutter, Shane O’Neill, Lamine Sane, Carlos Ascues, RJ Allen — Cristian Higuita, Will Johnson, Sacha Kljestan, Chris Mueller — Dom Dwyer

Seattle Sounders FC

Seattle (15-11-5) inched closer to clinching a spot in the Audi 2018 MLS Cup playoffs with a 4-1 win over the Houston Dynamo on Oct. 8 at CenturyLink Field.

Will Bruin opened the scoring against his former team in the 18th minute and Cristian Roldan made it 2-0 at the break. Victor Vazquez struck twice in a nine-minute span to put the game away before DaMarcus Beasley scored a cosmetic goal three minutes from full time.

“I’ve got to give a lot of credit to [assistant coaches Gonzalo Pineda, Djimi Traore and Preki],” Brian Schmetzer said after the match. “They all do a lot of work prepping the group. Those guys do a lot of work to help us be successful. When the players are engaged and the coaching is a high level. You get moments like this where the guys come together and they play well.”

Suspended: None
Suspended after next caution: M - Osvaldo Alonso, D/M - Jordy Delem
International duty: M - Gustav Svensson, F - Raul Ruidiaz, M - Nico Lodeiro, D - Jordy Delem
Injury Report: OUT: F - Jordan Morris (torn ACL), F - Felix Chenkam (herniated disc), M - Harry Shipp (right hamstring strain), D - Brad Smith (right hamstring strain)

Projected Starting XI
(4-2-3-1, right to left)
GK: Stefan Frei — Kelvin Leerdam, Kim Kee-Hee, Chad Marshall, Nouhou Tolo — Osvaldo Alonso, Henry Wingo — Handwalla Bwana, Cristian Roldan, Victor Rodriguez — Will Bruin

All-Time Series

Overall: Orlando City SC 0 wins, 2 goals … Seattle Sounders FC 2 wins, 8 goals … 1 draw
At Orlando: Orlando City SC 0 wins, 1 goal … Sounders 1 win, 3 goals … 0 draws
Last meeting at Orlando: Orlando City SC 1, Seattle Sounders FC 3 (August 7, 2016)