Preview: Orlando City vs Nashville SC - prediction, team news, lineups

Fresh from a morale-boosting 4-0 midweek victory, Orlando City will look to build on that momentum when league leaders Nashville SC visit the Inter&Co Stadium on Sunday morning in matchday 17 of the MLS Eastern Conference.

Nashville arrive as the form team in the entire league - unbeaten in their last five and pacing the division for the Supporters’ Shield, while the hosts will hope that last week’s victory has reignited a campaign that had been threatening to drift.

Match preview

Orlando City sit 10th in the Eastern Conference with 17 points from five wins, two draws and nine defeats across 16 matches, and a defensive record that has been the defining problem of their campaign - 44 goals conceded representing the highest total in the conference.

Martin Perelman’s side had gone 10 consecutive matches conceding before last week’s 4-0 victory over San Jose, which had placed pressure on finding solutions at the back. 

The clean sheet against San Jose, the first since April across all competitions, was therefore as important as the goals scored, with four different scorers getting on the sheet, including Antoine Griezmann, who marked his debut for the club with a goal.

Orlando have won three of their last five matches across all competitions, with one loss and one draw in that run, and in the league specifically their last five fixtures have produced two wins, two defeats and a draw.

At home this season, Perelman’s side have posted three wins, one draw and three defeats at the Inter&Co Stadium, accumulating 10 points from seven home fixtures with 14 goals scored and 13 conceded. 

© Imago

Nashville SC, by contrast, have been the standout side in MLS this season, sitting top of the Eastern Conference and leading the overall league standings as they pace the division in the race for the Supporters’ Shield.

BJ Callaghan’s side have accumulated 39 points from 12 wins, three draws and just one defeat - a record that leaves them five points clear of second-placed Inter Miami and significantly ahead of Western Conference leaders Vancouver, who top that table with 32 points.

The visitors have scored 33 goals this season - the third-best return in the league, while their defensive record of just 11 goals conceded is the best in MLS, and that combination of attacking output and defensive solidity is what makes Nashville so difficult to play against at this stage of the season.

Callaghan’s men arrive in Orlando on the back of a 1-0 win over Montreal, where Sam Surridge’s 68th-minute penalty proved to be the difference, and they have conceded just three goals across their last five league victories.

The most recent meeting between the two clubs ended in a resounding 5-0 victory for Nashville, and across the last five encounters between the sides, the league leaders have won three times to Orlando’s two - a head-to-head record that further underlines the scale of the task facing Perelman’s side on Sunday.

Orlando City Major League Soccer form:

Orlando City form (all competitions):

Nashville SC Major League Soccer form:

Team News

© Imago / ZUMA Press Wire

Orlando head into Sunday’s match with several absentees. Newly signed defender Clovis Archange is unavailable due to international duty with Canada, while Colin Guske is also away on international commitments.

Joran Gerbet remains sidelined with a knee injury, while Nolan Miller is also out with a knee complaint. 

Martin Ojeda is unavailable with a thigh injury, further limiting Perelman’s options ahead of a difficult home fixture.

Griezmann is expected to retain his place in the starting lineup having scored on his debut against San Jose, with the forward’s arrival giving Orlando a genuine attacking threat that their campaign had lacked in the earlier weeks of the season.

For Nashville, Chris Applewhite is away on international duty, while Cristian Espinoza is sidelined with a leg injury and Warren Madrigal is unavailable with a knock.

Reed Baker-Whiting misses out with a muscle injury, while Patrick Yazbek is also absent with a lower body complaint.

Orlando City possible starting lineup:

Crepeau; Dorsey, Brekalo, Jansson, Marin; Angulo, Atuesta, Ojeda, Tiago; Griezmann, Ellis

Nashville SC possible starting lineup:

Schwake; Lovitz, Palacios, Woledzi, Bauer; Muyl, Corcoran, Tagseth; Mukhtar, Surridge, Mohammed

We say: Orlando City 1-2 Nashville SC

Nashville’s defensive record makes them an extremely difficult side to score against, and Orlando’s inability to keep clean sheets across most of the season suggests this will be no straightforward afternoon for Perelman’s side despite last week’s encouraging result.

The visitors' unbeaten run and their superiority across the pitch makes a narrow away win the most likely outcome on Sunday morning.

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