Preview: New York Red Bulls vs. Orlando City - prediction, team news, lineups

Yet to keep a clean sheet in MLS since February, the New York Red Bulls welcome Orlando City to Sports Illustrated Stadium in Saturday's 18th round.

Separated by two places in the Eastern Conference, the play-off-chasing Red Bulls must avoid defeat to prevent their 10th-placed visitors from leapfrogging them in their section.

Match preview

Another game has come and gone, and Michael Bradley's team have failed to keep a shutout in the league, this time losing 2-0 to Charlotte FC in New Jersey.

While the home loss was their first in front of their supporters since May's defeat to Dallas by the same score, it also continued the team's wait for success since the league's resumption post-World Cup 2026.

Having suffered a 3-1 defeat at the hands of Philadelphia Union following the global tournament, the recent reverse continues what has been a below-par start for Metro, who entered the hiatus accumulating 10 points from a possible 12.

After scoring more than the opponent in victories over the Chicago Fire (3-1), Columbus Crew (3-2) and Kansas City (2-1), the Red Bulls have now failed to find the net more than once in consecutive matches for the first time since April-May, and now aim to avoid the same for the third time.

That has not happened since a four-match run between February and late March when claiming three wins during that period saw them concede 10 in three matches — losing 3-0 to CF Montreal and 6-1 to Charlotte, sandwiching a 1-1 draw with Toronto FC — after a 1-0 success over the New England Revolution.

Now looking to end their ongoing dearth of goals, Bradley's eighth-placed men could rise into the coveted top-seven spots with the right result, while they could conversely slide out of the wild-card places if this weekend's encounter goes against them.

Orlando will look to continue their longest winning run of this season by inflicting more misery on the home side in New Jersey, where they last won in June 2023.

Interim boss Martin Perelman has guided the club to 4-0 and 1-0 wins over the San Jose Earthquakes and Nashville after the hiatus, strikingly keeping their first clean sheets of the campaign.

Maxime Crepeau will undeniably have a big part to play at Sports Illustrated Stadium, considering that he has made nine saves altogether across the past two wins, including a staggering seven against San Jose.

That would require the Lions to secure consecutive away MLS wins for the first time since July 2025, a year-long wait that has witnessed several disappointing matches on the road.

In fact, Orlando's 3-1 success over Columbus marked their last MLS win on their travels until a 4-3 success over Inter Miami in early May, highlighting the team's broader bugbear outside of Florida.

Nevertheless, the Red Bulls will also be aware that Perelman's men have conceded 31 goals away from home, more than any side in the Eastern Conference or the overall league, magnifying their challenges on the road.

Nonetheless, that probably guarantees entertainment for this weekend's trip, even if the travelling supporters may not fancy their team's prospects of leapfrogging the New Jersey hosts and potentially FC Cincinnati in seventh.

New York Red Bulls Major League Soccer form:

Orlando City Major League Soccer form:

Orlando City form (all competitions):

Team News

Adri Mehmeti will serve a one-match suspension after his late sending-off in the loss to Charlotte, while AJ Marcucci is absent with a long-term knee injury.

However, there is some hope that Rafael Mosquera could return from his thigh injury this weekend.

Although Julian Hall has not scored in four consecutive MLS matches, the nine-goal forward is the Red Bulls' leading marksman heading into the 18th gameweek.

Orlando's Antoine Griezmann neither scored nor assisted last time out against Nashville, but the 2018 World Cup winner did find the net in his debut against San Jose as the Lions ran riot and aims to add to his sole strike.

Without 11-goal forward Martin Ojeda, though, the away side must find other goalscoring solutions in New Jersey.

In addition to Ojeda (thigh), Joran Gerbet (ACL) and Nolan Miller (knee) are also in the wars, while Clovis Archange and Colin Guske are on international duty at the U20 CONCACAF Championship.

New York Red Bulls possible starting lineup:

Horvath; Marshall-Rutty, Che, Nealis, Dos Santos; Donkor, Berggren, Forsberg; Cowell, Hall, Ruvalcaba

Orlando City possible starting lineup:

Crepeau; Dorsey, Teodoro, Jansson, Rhein; Angulo, Otavio, Ojeda, Souza; Griezmann, Ellis

We say: New York Red Bulls 3-3 Orlando City

Although Orlando City arrive in New Jersey on a high following back-to-back victories and clean sheets, their porous away record suggests they will struggle to keep Bradley's desperate hosts at bay for 90 minutes.

With the Red Bulls equally vulnerable at the back and lacking defensive consistency, an entertaining end-to-end encounter should see both playoff contenders settle for a share of the spoils.

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