Welcome to your match thread for a Saturday night matchup between\u00a0Orlando City (5-9-2, 17 points)\u00a0and\u00a0Nashville SC\u00a0(12-1-3, 39 points) on the Lions\u2019 home grounds (7:30 p.m., Apple TV). This is the first of second of the two scheduled meetings between the Eastern Conference clubs in the 2026 regular season.<\/p>\n
Here\u2019s what you need to know ahead of the match.<\/p>\n
History<\/p>\n
The Lions are 5-4-4 against Nashville in MLS regular-season matches and 7-6-5 in all competitions. Orlando is 3-2-1 at home in the regular season against Nashville and 4-3-4 in all competitions in the City Beautiful against tonight\u2019s visitors.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s wrong to say the most recent meeting between the sides was a forgettable one for Orlando City fans, as 5-0 beatdowns tend to stick in the memory. That\u2019s exactly what happened on March 21<\/a>, as Martin Perelman suffered his first loss as Orlando\u2019s interim head coach in his first road match and second game overall. Sam Surridge scored a hat trick, with Cristian Espinoza and Warren Madrigal also finding the net on a terrible night in Tennessee.<\/p>\n The last time these teams met in Orlando took place on Sept. 20, 2025, with the Lions winning 3-2<\/a>. Martin Ojeda scored two goals two minutes apart to give Orlando a first-half lead, but Hany Mukhtar and Jacob Shaffelburg scored moments before and after halftime, respectively, to knot things up. Duncan McGuire\u2019s goal deep in stoppage time lifted the Lions to all three points. Just a few weeks earlier in Nashville, on Aug. 23, things did not go well for the Lions as Nashville SC blasted Orlando 5-1<\/a>. Surridge and Mukhtar netted braces and Jeisson Palacios added a late goal. Luis Muriel scored a consolation goal to spoil the shutout.<\/p>\n These teams faced each other in U.S. Open Cup play on May 21, 2025 with Nashville claiming a 3-2 road win<\/a>. Marco Pasalic provided the Lions with an early lead before an own goal by Rodrigo Schlegel and an Ahmed Qasem goal put Nashville ahead at the break. Ramiro Enrique equalized in the second half, but Wyatt Meyer\u2019s goal knocked Orlando out of the competition.<\/p>\n The teams met at Inter&Co Stadium on Aug. 31, 2024 with the Lions blasting Nashville 3-0<\/a>. Facundo Torres\u2019 brace and an opening goal by Ivan Angulo led Orlando City to the season sweep. Orlando City visited Nashville SC at Geodis Park on July 17, 2024, with the Lions cruising to a 3-0 road win<\/a>. Goals by Cesar Araujo and Enrique sandwiched an Alex Muyl own goal as Orlando City got its fourth consecutive shutout victory over Nashville.<\/p>\n The teams met at the end of the previous season on Nov. 7, 2023 in the best-of-three, first-round playoff series. The Lions got an early goal from Angulo in a 1-0 win<\/a> to sweep the series. Orlando City drew first blood in the series by beating Nashville 1-0<\/a> on Oct. 30, 2023 at Exploria Stadium. Wilder Cartagena\u2019s blast from outside the area provided the game\u2019s only score.<\/p>\n The teams met in the 2023 regular season on Oct. 4, with Orlando City stealing a 1-0 win<\/a> in Music City on McGuire\u2019s goal just before halftime. That was one of only two shot attempts by the Lions all night and the only one on target. Orlando played well defensively and Pedro Gallese didn\u2019t have to make a save as the hosts didn\u2019t put any shots on frame. Nashville visited Orlando on April 1 of 2023 at Exploria Stadium and it was the visitors who made fools of the Lions, as Nashville won, 2-0<\/a>. Fafa Picault and Mukhtar did the damage for Nashville.<\/p>\n The teams did not face each other in the regular season play the year before, meeting only in the U.S. Open Cup in Orlando on June 29, 2022. Mukhtar scored in the second half, and that looked like it would be enough until Schlegel equalized deep in stoppage time. After a scoreless 30 minutes of extra time, the Lions won the ensuing penalty shootout, 6-5<\/a>.<\/p>\n These clubs met in the 2021 postseason in Tennessee, with Orlando scoring first through Daryl Dike\u2019s early goal, but\u00a0Nashville won 3-1<\/a>\u00a0on Nov. 23, 2021 to knock the Lions out of the playoffs. Mukhtar tied it up before halftime on a fluky deflected goal off of Antonio Carlos and then put his team ahead in the second half. Jhonder Cadiz put things away deep in stoppage time.<\/p>\n The teams met in Orlando on Oct. 31, 2021 and\u00a0ended in a 1-1 draw<\/a>\u00a0after referee Allen Chapman\u2019s Halloween Heist chalked off Andres Perea\u2019s apparent stoppage-time winner. The referee\u2019s excuse for overturning the goal was an imagined foul on Dike, who, if anything, was the fouled party. The decision cost the Lions a valuable home playoff match, which instead sent Orlando to Nashville. Mukhtar scored for Nashville to equalize in the second half after Dike\u2019s first-half goal.<\/p>\n The teams met in Nashville on Sept. 29, 2021 with a late rally by the Lions earning the team\u00a0a 2-2 road draw at Nissan Stadium<\/a>. The hosts had taken a 2-0 lead on goals by Mukhtar \u2014 scoring off the rebound of his own saved penalty \u2014 and Randall Leal, but a penalty by Dike and a stoppage-time own goal by Brian Anunga turned the game around. On Aug. 18 of that season, the teams\u00a0finished in another 1-1 draw<\/a>. C.J. Sapong put the hosts ahead in the first half and Carlos leveled the score in the second half. <\/p>\n The teams met on Decision Day of 2020 at Exploria Stadium, with Orlando melting down late, allowing two goals from the 88th minute on, and\u00a0falling 3-2 at home\u00a0on Nov. 8, 2020<\/a> \u2014 the team\u2019s only home loss of the season. Dike and Nani goals sandwiched a strike by Daniel Lovitz, giving the Lions a lead until late. Headers by Mukhtar and Cadiz just before and into stoppage time turned the game on its head.<\/p>\n In the Lions\u2019 first trip to Nissan Stadium, the teams\u00a0played to a 1-1 draw<\/a>\u00a0on Sept. 2, 2020. Benji Michel put the Lions ahead with a stunner of a goal, but Leal knotted things up and that\u2019s the way the match ended. That draw came a week after\u00a0a 3-1 Orlando City win on Aug. 26<\/a> at Exploria Stadium.\u00a0Dave Romney\u00a0opened the scoring for Nashville, but Orlando scored the last three. Dike scored a brace and Chris Mueller added a goal.<\/p>\n Overview<\/p>\n The Lions are coming off an impressive 4-0 win<\/a> at San Jose in their first game after the World Cup break. Antoine Griezmann made his MLS debut and opened his Orlando City account, but it was a team effort. David Brekalo and Angulo gave the Lions the lead, with Griezmann and Braian Ojeda ensuring there would be no Quakes comeback. Maxime Crepeau had his best night in goal for Orlando to help the cause. While it was impressive that it happened at all, let alone without the injured Martin Ojeda, Designated Player Marco Pasalic, or newly re-signed Dike, it remains to be seen if it was a one-off after the layoff or the start of something for the Lions.<\/p>\n Orlando City is just 3-3-1 at home this season, but that\u2019s still far better than its road record.<\/p>\n Nashville SC has been dominant all season \u2014 maybe not always quite as dominant as it was on March 21 against the Lions, but still quite good. The Coyotes are seven points clear in the Supporters\u2019 Shielf race and lead MLS with both the most wins (12), fewest losses (1), and goal differential (+22). Tonight\u2019s opponent has only dropped points on the road three times, going 4-1-2 away from Geodis Park. Nashville rides a five-game winning streak and nine-game unbeaten run into tonight and hasn\u2019t allowed a goal in its last two outings.<\/p>\n To get anything from this game, Orlando City must figure out a way to stop (or at least significantly slow down) Nashville\u2019s star forwards, Surridge and Mukhtar (I would add Espinoza here but he\u2019s ruled out with a lower body injury). Both Surridge and Mukhtar have absolutely destroyed Orlando City over the years. Surridge has scored 10 goals in MLS play this season, with Mukhtar chipping in six goals and five assists. At the other end, Palacios has paired with Maxwell Woledzi to form a solid central defense in front of emerging goalkeeper Brian Schwake. This second meeting is going to be another difficult matchup for the Lions, who will need their best performance to take anything from this game. <\/p>\n The Lions will be without Martin Ojeda (thigh), Nolan Miller (knee), Joran Gerbet (knee), Eduard Atuesta (yellow card suspension), Colin Guske (international duty), and Clovis Archange (international duty), however, Marco Pasalic has only recently returned to Orlando from the World Cup and Dike is still returning to match fitness, so they may also be missing when the lineup drops.<\/p>\n Nashville will be without Chris Applewhite (international duty), Espinoza (lower body), Madrigal (lower body), Joe Willis (lower body), and Patrick Yazbek (lower body), while Reed Baker-Whiting is questionable with (what else) a lower body injury.<\/p>\n Match Content<\/p>\n Official Lineups:<\/p>\n Orlando City (4-4-2)<\/p>\n Goalkeeper:\u00a0Maxime Crepeau.<\/p>\n Defenders:\u00a0Bernardo Rhein, Robin Jansson, David Brekalo, Griffin Dorsey.<\/p>\n Midfielders:\u00a0Ivan Angulo, Braian Ojeda, Luis Otavio, Tiago.<\/p>\n Forwards: Antoine Griezmann, Justin Ellis.<\/p>\n Bench: Javier Otero, Adrian Marin, Tahir Reid-Brown, Zakaria Taifi, Iago, Wilder Cartagena, Gustavo Caraballo, Harvey Sarajian, Tyrese Spicer.<\/p>\n Nashville SC (4-3-3)<\/p>\n Goalkeeper:\u00a0Brian Schwake.<\/p>\n Defenders:\u00a0Daniel Lovitz, Jeison Palacios, Maxwell Woledzi, Josh Bauer.<\/p>\n Midfielders: Alex Muyl, Matthew Corcoran, Edvard Tagseth.<\/p>\n Forwards:\u00a0Hany Mukhtar, Sam Surridge, Shak Mohammed.<\/p>\n Bench: Joe Willis, Andy Najar, Jack Maher, Thomas Williams, Bryan Acosta, Woobens Pacios, Jordan Knight, Ahmed Qasem, Charles Brunet. <\/p>\n Referees<\/p>\n REF: Ramy Touchan. How to Watch<\/p>\n Match Time:\u00a07:30 p.m.<\/p>\n Venue:\u00a0Inter.co Stadium \u2014 Orlando.<\/p>\n TV\/Live Stream:\u00a0Apple TV.<\/p>\n Radio:\u00a0AM 810 FOX Sports Radio Orlando (English), Mega 97.1 FM (Spanish), Nossa R\u00e1dio 1160 AM-WRLZ (Portuguese).<\/p>\n Social Media:\u00a0For rapid reaction and live updates, follow us on Bluesky Social at\u00a0@themaneland.bsky.social<\/a>\u00a0or follow Orlando City\u2019s\u00a0official Twitter (@OrlandoCitySC) or Bluesky (@OrlandoCitySC<\/a>) feed.<\/p>\n Enjoy the game. Go City!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Welcome to your match thread for a Saturday night matchup between\u00a0Orlando City (5-9-2, 17 points)\u00a0and\u00a0Nashville SC\u00a0(12-1-3, 39 points)…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":353026,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[139,141,140],"class_list":["post-353025","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-orlando","tag-orlando","tag-orlando-headlines","tag-orlando-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/353025","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=353025"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/353025\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/353026"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=353025"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=353025"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=353025"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
AR1: Eric Weisbrod.
AR2: Meghan Mullen.
4TH: Carlos Rodriguez.
VAR: Daniel Radford.
AVAR: Kevin Huet.<\/p>\n