Orlando City vs Toronto

Out-of-sorts Toronto head to the Exploria Stadium to encounter Orlando City in a must-win Major League Soccer showdown.

Scoring on either side of halftime helped Orlando City see off Chicago Fire 3-1 at home last time out and put a frustrating three-game winless run to bed (D2, L1). High scoring was a common theme during that four-match sequence, with three of those fixtures seeing over 2.5 goals and both teams scoring, highlighting the potential for an enthralling contest. But Orlando won’t seek excitement as they aim to solidify a berth in the MLS round of 16. They’re only five points clear of 8th-placed Montreal, but a six-game unbeaten run on home turf (W3, D3) promises to help them maintain their lead at the very least. Moreover, Oscar Pareja’s men have emerged victorious in three of their last four MLS H2Hs against Toronto at home (L1), including back-to-back wins ‘to nil’ in their most recent two.

On the other hand, Bob Bradley’s dismissal has failed to turn Toronto’s ill fortunes around as caretaker manager Terry Dunfield oversaw a 1-0 home loss to Real Salt Lake on his touchline debut on Sunday. Winless in six MLS matches ahead of this travel (D3, L3), including three defeats on the trot, the visitors lag seven points behind the last playoff spot in the Eastern Conference. But considering they lament an embarrassing win ratio of 14% across their 21 MLS outings this season (W3, D10, D8), they can consider themselves lucky for still having an outside chance of reaching the round of 32. However, a woeful ten-game winless record on their MLS travels (D4, L6) spells trouble, especially with the ‘Reds’ netting a meager aveage of 0.7 goals pepr game in that sequence.