SM
Plymouth vs. Hearts: 21 hrs 25 mins
Collect News Data
OC
Major League Soccer | Gameweek 8
May 23, 2021 at 12am UK
Florida Citrus Bowl
TF
Orlando City
1 - 0
Toronto
Akindele (12')
Akindele (77')
FT(HT: 1-0)

Soteldo (21'), Auro (63')

Preview: Orlando City vs. Toronto - prediction, team news, lineups

:Headline: Preview: Orlando City vs. Toronto - prediction, team news, lineups:
Sports Mole previews Saturday's Major League Soccer clash between Orlando City and Toronto, including predictions, team news and possible lineups.
Sports Mole

Orlando City will look to extend their unbeaten start to the Major League Soccer season on Sunday, when they welcome Toronto to Florida.

The Lions have kicked their campaign off with two victories and three draws to move into second spot in the Eastern Conference, and they will aim to make it six games without a defeat on Sunday.


Match preview

Orlando City come into this game on the back of their second victory of the MLS season, as they defeated DC United 1-0 away from home on Monday.

Mauricio Pereyra found the net in the seventh minute of the game, and Oscar Pareja's side held on for an impressive clean sheet to seal all three points.

That followed a 1-1 draw with third-placed New York City FC and a comfortable 3-0 victory over FC Cincinnati, as Tesho Akindele scored inside the first minute before Nani and Junior Urso both found the net to seal a comfortable win.

After a strong start to the season with nine points from their opening five matches, the Lions find themselves in third spot in the Eastern Conference having played a game fewer than league leaders New England Revolution, who sit just two points ahead.

That is largely down to their solid defensive record, with Pareja's men having only conceded two goals in their first five matches, while they will look to improve on their attacking threat, having netted six goals in that time.

They will look to add a second straight victory on Sunday to potentially move to the summit of the division, extending their unbeaten run in the process.

The Florida outfit welcome a Toronto side who have had a slow start to the domestic season, with five points from their first five fixtures.

After a poor start to the campaign with two defeats and a draw from the opening three matches, Chris Armas's side come into Sunday's match with some form having picked up four points from their last two matches.

The Reds firstly recorded their opening victory of the league season with a 2-0 win over Columbus Crew at home, as Michael Bradley opened the scoring early on before Jozy Altidore doubled their lead in the dying minutes to secure the three points.

Armas's men then picked up a commendable point against third-placed New York City, as Jacob Shaffelburg found the net in the 74th minute to earn a point for his side after Jesus Medina gave the hosts the lead early in the second half.

The Canadian outfit will now look to ensure that they put their slow start behind them and build a solid run on the back of two impressive results, starting with what would be an eye-catching victory on Sunday against the unbeaten Lions.

Orlando City Major League Soccer form:
  • D
  • D
  • W
  • D
  • W

Toronto Major League Soccer form:
  • L
  • D
  • L
  • W
  • D

Toronto form (all competitions):
  • D
  • L
  • L
  • L
  • W
  • D

Team News

Orlando City will remain without Brazilian forward Alexandre Pato through injury, while Uri Rosell and David Loera will also continue spells on the sidelines.

Tesho Akindele should continue to lead the line with the support of Mauricio Pereyra, who netted the winner last time out, and Nani, who has scored three goals in the first five games of the season.

At the other end of the pitch, Rodrigo Schlegel and Antonio Carlos should continue their solid centre-back pairing, having kept three clean sheets so far this season.

Toronto will come into this game without Ifunanyachi Achara, Julian Dunn and Alejandro Pozuelo, with all three being absent since the start of the season.

Winger Erickson Gallardo will also miss out through a groin injury, while left-back Justin Morrow is also expected to continue his spell out of action.

Jacob Shaffelburg will hope that his equaliser off the bench last time out is enough to earn him a starting spot on Sunday, as he aims to come into the forward line alongside the likes of Altidore.

Orlando City possible starting lineup:
Gallese; Smith, Schlegel, Carlos, Moutinho; Mendez, Urso; Nani, Pereyra, Michel; Akindele

Toronto possible starting lineup:
Bono; Laryea, Mavinga, Gonzalez, Lawrence; Auro, Bradley; Shaffelburg, Altidore, Soteldo; Akinola


We say: Orlando City 1-1 Toronto

Both sides have displayed positive signs coming into this game, and we expect them to share the points in Florida.

While Toronto had a disappointing start to the campaign, they have since bounced back with two commendable results, and should be a match for an Orlando City side who will look to continue their unbeaten run.



Top tip

Our expert tipster partners at Sporita.com are predicting under 3.5 goals in this match. Click here to find out what else they are predicting for this game and for more of their tried-and-tested football tips.Under 3.5:data



body check tags ::

Previews by email

Click here to get Sports Mole's daily email of previews and predictions for every major game!


The 2023 MLS season is now up and running, and you can watch every game live with the MLS season pass on Apple TV. Click here for more details on how to subscribe.


amp_article__448382 : Collect and Make Data not in DataBase  : 
last updated article - 2021-05-21 06:53:31:
html db last update - 2021-05-20 23:08:07 :

ex - 7200 : read : write cache and make html
Game History
Read more!
Share this article now:

Subscribe to our newsletter


Sports Mole provides in-depth previews and predictions for every match from the biggest leagues and competitions in world football.
AL
Sign up for our FREE daily preview newsletter direct to your inbox!
Recommended Next on SM
Read more!
Premier League Table

Eastern Conference

TeamPWDLFAGDPTS
1FC CincinnatiCincinnati20135232211144
2Nashville SCNashville21115530161438
3New England RevolutionNew England20107335251037
4Columbus Crew21105642291335
5Philadelphia UnionPhiladelphia20104634221234
6Orlando City219753223934
7Atlanta UnitedAtlanta218853935432
8DC United228593028229
9CF MontrealMontreal2082102028-826
10New York City FCNY City215972226-424
11Charlotte FCCharlotte FC206682735-824
12New York Red BullsNY Red Bulls205871820-223
13Chicago Fire205872631-523
14Toronto2231091831-1319
15Inter MiamiInter Miami2052132031-1117

Western Conference

TeamPWDLFAGDPTS
1St Louis City20112739241535
2Seattle SoundersSeattle219572518732
3Los Angeles FCLos Angeles209562923632
4Real Salt LakeSalt Lake218672631-530
5Dallas218582323029
6San Jose EarthquakesEarthquakes217772528-328
7Houston DynamoHouston208392426-227
8Austin FCAustin207582528-326
9Vancouver WhitecapsVancouver196763026425
10Sporting Kansas CityKansas2266102630-424
11Minnesota UnitedMinnesota Utd196672125-424
12Portland TimbersPortland215792331-822
13Los Angeles GalaxyLA Galaxy204792032-1219
14Colorado RapidsColorado2028101429-1514
Scroll for more - Tap for full version

Subscribe to our newsletter


Sports Mole provides in-depth previews and predictions for every match from the biggest leagues and competitions in world football.
AL
Sign up for our FREE daily preview newsletter direct to your inbox!

Loading ...

Failed to load data.



. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .