Something has to give when Orlando City SC puts its home prowess up against the Chicago Fire’s ability to get a result on the road when the teams meet at Orlando on Saturday.
Five points and five places in the Eastern Conference standing separate the two sides, with Orlando in seventh place and Chicago in 12th, three spots and three points below the playoff line.
Orlando City (7-5-7, 28 points) is unbeaten in its past five home games (2-0-3) and has dropped just one of its past nine overall matches starting with a 2-2 road result against the Columbus Crew on May 13. Orlando enters off a scoreless draw at Seattle last Saturday.
Lions goalkeeper Pedro Gallese will search for his fourth consecutive clean sheet on Saturday night. Gallese had to make just two saves to keep the Sounders off the board in his return from international duty with Peru last weekend. He has seven shutouts in all competitions in 2023 and a club record to 28.
“I think we dominated the game in terms of the clear options,” Orlando City coach Oscar Pareja said. “We’re going to walk off with that point and take it proudly and take it to Orlando with our commitment to be heavy at home and keep ascending in the standings.”
The Fire (5-6-8, 23 points) have won two straight matches on the road, beating Portland 2-1 on June 21 and, most recently Sporting Kansas City 1-0 last Saturday. It was the Fire’s fourth clean sheet of the season.
Chicago is 2-1-2 over its past five games away from home after going 1-4-0 to open 2023. The Fire has not won three straight road matches since May 2009.
Fabian Herbers scored the deciding goal against Sporting KC in the 47th minute and homegrown goalkeeper Chris Brady produced his third career shutout with the Fire.
Herbers provides value for the Fire because he can play in numerous spots in the formation, whether it’s on the wing or in various spots in the midfield.
“Overall I have a good understanding for the game and know what each position requires,” said Herbers, who has been with Chicago since 2019. “I try to do it to the best of my abilities and try to help the team, obviously, put everything out on the pitch.”
The past three meetings between the sides have produced just two total goals, both by Orlando City in 1-0 victories at home.
–Field Level Media
