DC United vs. Orlando City SC | 2018 MLS Match Preview

Dylan Butler

D.C. United vs. Orlando City SC
2018 MLS Regular Season — Week 24
Audi Field — Washington, D.C.
August 12 — 8 pm ET
WATCH: FS1, TSN4

Two teams desperate to climb up the Eastern Conference standings meet Sunday night when D.C. United host Orlando City SC at Audi Field.

D.C. sit last in the East and are coming of a 1-1 draw at Montreal, while Orlando occupy eighth following a wild 3-3 draw against the New England Revolution.

This is the second meeting this season, with the teams playing to a 1-1 draw on March 3 at Orlando City Stadium. Yamil Asad opened the scoring for the visitors in the 32nd minute and Stefano Pinho leveled late for the 10-man Lions.

Orlando have won three of their last four games against D.C. (1D). United had won three of the first four meetings between the two sides (1L), per Opta.

D.C. United

United (6-13-5) have still played three fewer games than any team in the East, so while rallying to tie the Impact is somewhat satisfying, it does little to move them up the table.

Montreal raced in front in the 5th minute on Matteo Mancosu’s third goal of the season, but Asad leveled in the 70th minute with his ninth goal of the year.

“A tie that feels pretty good, to rebound after giving up an early goal. We’re going to go a little more attacking and try to get wins that way,” Ben Olsen said. “Each game will be a little different and we’ll keep tweaking it, trying to maximize as many points as possible over the next couple games.”

Suspended: None
Suspended after next caution: M - Chris Durkin
International duty: None
Injury Report: OUT: D - Taylor Kemp (labrum surgery), D - Nick DeLeon (knee injury)

Projected Starting XI
(4-1-4-1, right to left)
GK: David Ousted — Oniel Fisher, Kofi Opare, Steve Birmbaum, Joseph Mora — Junior Moreno — Zoltan Stieber, Russell Canouse, Luciano Acosta, Yamil Asad — Wayne Rooney

Notes: With his next goal, Asad will become the eighth D.C. player with 10+ goals in a MLS season since 2010, and the first to do so since Lamar Neagle in 2016. … United have gotten points in four of their last six games (2W-2D-2L). They earned points in six of the 16 prior games.

Orlando City SC

After digging themselves an early two-goal hole, Orlando (7-14-2) clawed back to twice equalize in an entertaining 3-3 draw against the Revolution that left neither coach particularly pleased.

Dom Dwyer and Amro Tarek leveled the match at two and after Teal Bunbury put the Revs back in front, Scott Sutter struck in the third minute of stoppage time for the Lions, who snapped a three-match losing streak.

“They’ve got capable players going forward. Obviously they’ve signed Wayne Rooney, his career speaks for itself. You’ve got [Darren] Mattocks, you’ve got [Luciano] Acosta. You've got multiple players that are capable, got good movement,” James O’Connor said. “The biggest thing for us, is trying to look at what areas can we excel in, what problems can we cause them and then what areas do we need to be mindful of, where are they going to attack, who are their most potent players, and then trying to make sure there’s good understanding of attacking and defensive principles.”

Suspended: M - Yoshi Yotun
Suspended after next caution: M - Sacha Kljestan, F - Dom Dwyer
International duty: None
Injury Report: OUT: GK - Mason Stajduhar (Localized Ewing Sarcoma), D - Lamine Sane (quad injury), D - Jonathan Spector (hamstring injury)

Projected Starting XI
(4-3-3, right to left)
GK: Earl Edwards Jr. — Scott Sutter, Shane O’Neill, Amro Tarek, PC — Cristian Higuita, Tony Rocha, Sacha Kljestan — Chris Mueller, Dom Dwyer, Mohamed El-Munir

Notes: In 685+ minutes without Yoshi Yotun, Orlando are averaging 0.5 goals scored and 2.8 goals against per 90 (averaging 1.8 goals for and 1.9 goals against per 90 in 1,548+ minutes with him). Yotun will miss this match after receiving a red card last week. … Orlando have dropped a franchise-record eight straight road games, allowing 3.5 goals per game in that time.

All-Time Series

Overall: D.C. United 3 wins, 10 goals … Orlando City SC 4 wins, 11 goals … 1 draw
At D.C.: D.C. United 2 wins, 7 goals … Orlando City SC 1 win, 4 goals … 0 draws
Last meeting at D.C.: D.C. United 1, Orlando City SC 2 (Sept. 9, 2017)