Looking to continue their unbeaten start to the Major League Soccer season, Orlando City welcome New York City FC to the Exploria Stadium on Saturday.
The hosts will hope to build on an eye-catching 3-0 win over FC Cincinnati last time out, while the visitors recorded their second league win of the campaign as they defeated Philadelphia Union 2-0 away from home.
Match preview
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Orlando City recorded their first win of the MLS campaign last time out, as they comfortably defeated FC Cincinnati at home.
It took Oscar Pareja's side just 30 seconds to go ahead, as Tesho Akindele opened the scoring before Nani doubled the lead in the 19th minute and Junior Urso added a third goal late on to seal the victory.
That followed consecutive draws to start the season, as the Lions drew 0-0 with Atlanta United and 1-1 against Sporting Kansas City, with Nani netting an equaliser in the 80th minute to salvage a point.
Their unbeaten start to the campaign means that Pareja's men sit in third spot in the Eastern Conference, just one point behind New York City in second place.
The Lions will now look to add a second consecutive victory to go ahead of their opponents and put pressure on leaders New England Revolution, but they take on another side who will look to stay at the top end of the Conference with a win on Saturday.
After a narrow 2-1 defeat to DC United in the first MLS game of the season, New York City have bounced back with consecutive league victories.
Firstly, Ronny Deila's side thrashed FC Cincinnati 5-0 at home, as Jesus Medina netted a brace alongside a Nick Hagglund own goal and goals from Gudmundur Thorarinsson and Valentin Castellanos.
They then followed that up with an impressive 2-0 victory away at Philadelphia Union last Sunday.
Medina opened the scoring after five minutes, and Castellanos added a second on the hour mark to put the game out of sight and move them to six points from the opening three games of the season.
Deila's men now sit in second spot in the conference, and they will be hoping for a victory over the third-placed side on Saturday to cement themselves at the top end of the table as the league begins to take shape.
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Team News
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Former Manchester United winger Nani will feature prominently in the attack for Orlando City, having scored in their last two matches.
The line will be led by Tesho Akindele, who opened his account for the season with a goal in the opening minute against Cincinnati last time out.
At the other end of the pitch, Antonio Carlos and Rodrigo Schlegel are expected to partner up again at the heart of the back four, having kept two clean sheets from the opening three MLS games.
Valentin Castellanos will lead the line for New York City, having netted in each of the three opening games of the season.
He will be supported by the attacking threat of midfielder Jesus Medina, who also has three goals to his name after three MLS games.
Meanwhile, Anton Tinnerholm, Alexander Callens, Maxime Chanot and Gudmundur Thorarinsson should line up across the back four, having kept two consecutive clean sheets.
Orlando City possible starting lineup:
Gallese; Teixeira, Carlos, Schlegel, Smith; Urso, Mendez; Mueller, Pereyra, Nani; Akindele
New York City FC possible starting lineup:
Johnson; Tinnerholm, Callens, Chanot, Thorarinsson; Sands, Morales, Parks; Medina; Moralez, Castellanos
We say: Orlando City 1-1 New York City FC
In what will be a close game between two of the stronger sides in the Eastern Conference, we see the points being shared on Saturday.
Both teams have looked strong at both ends of the pitch in the opening games of the season, and we expect them to finish level in Orlando.
Top tip
Data Analysis
Our analysis of all available data, including recent performances and player stats up until an hour before kickoff, suggested the most likely outcome of this match was a New York City FC win with a probability of 41.61%. A win for Orlando City had a probability of 33.93% and a draw had a probability of 24.5%.
The most likely scoreline for a New York City FC win was 1-2 with a probability of 8.86%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 0-1 (8.21%) and 0-2 (6.4%). The likeliest Orlando City win was 2-1 (7.88%), while for a drawn scoreline it was 1-1 (11.37%). The actual scoreline of 1-1 was predicted with an 11.4% likelihood.
