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

Two teams still in search of their first wins of the 2024 Major League Soccer season will face off when Orlando City, who are in the Eastern Conference, host Austin FC, who are in the Western Conference.

The Lions have one point after four matches while the Verde and Blacks have accrued three points from the same number of games.

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Match preview

Orlando City's season has gotten off to a poor start, having already lost three times and drawn once in their opening four matches.

The Lions are also out of the CONCACAF Champions Cup after losing 4-2 on aggregate to Mexican side Tigres UANL last week.

After finishing second in the Eastern Conference last season, Orlando's run of four consecutive playoff qualifications could be in jeopardy if they fail to turn their form around quickly.

Oscar Pareja's side conceded the joint-second fewest goals in the Eastern Conference last season (39), but keeping the ball out of their net has been a problem recently. They have allowed 10 goals in their last three MLS games.

A 2-0 defeat against Atlanta United followed 3-2 and 5-0 losses to Minnesota and Inter Miami respectively. The Lions only picked up a point in their goalless draw against Montreal in the season opener, leaving them just above one team in the Eastern Conference.

Orlando will play their second home game of the season when they host Austin FC, a side they have only met once before, in a 2-2 draw. However, this will be Austin's first ever visit to Exploria Stadium.

Austin FC drew 2-2 against Philadelphia Union last Sunday in Texas, making it their third consecutive draw and without a win so far in this campaign.

Josh Wolff's men went behind in the first half to a Daniel Gazdag penalty but quickly turned it around within two minutes of the second half through Diego Rubio and Jon Gallagher. However, Mikael Uhre equalised for Philadelphia.

Despite the result, Austin remain in 11th position in the Western Conference, one point off playoff contention with just four games into the season.

They have drawn four of their last eight away games, losing the other four. Their last away win was in July 2023 against Minnesota United.

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Team News

Cesar Araujo and Ramiro Enrique are questionable for Orlando in this match with both of them currently nursing ankle injuries.

Pareja will also missing up to seven players to international duty including goalkeeper Pedro Gallese, leaving room for Mason Stajduhar between the sticks.

Other players away with their countries include David Brekalo (Slovenia), Wilder Cartagena (Peru), Favian Loyola (USA U-19), Duncan McGuire (USA U-23), Abdi Salim (Somalia) and Facundo Torres (Uruguay).

For Austin, Leo Vaisanen is set to miss a fourth consecutive match due to a muscle injury he sustained against Minnesota United back in late February, while Zan Kolmanic is also sidelined with a hamstring injury.

Meanwhile, Julio Cascante and Dani Pereira are away on international duty with Costa Rica and Venezuela respectively, while Argentine midfielder Sebastian Driussi is questionable for this affair as he is currently nursing a hamstring injury.

Orlando City possible starting lineup: Stajduhar; Thorhallsson, Schlegel, Jansson, Santos; Kocevski, Martins; Ojeda, Lodeiro, Angulo; Muriel

Austin FC possible starting lineup: Stuver; Gallagher, Hines-Ike, Hedges, Biro; Valencia, Ring; Obrian, Rubio, Finlay; Zardes

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We say: Orlando City 2-2 Austin FC

Both sides are poor at the moment and will both see this as an opportunity to pick up their first victory in this campaign. However, we think that this will end in a draw with both sides finding the net more than once.

For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.

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