Orlando City SC Vs New England Revolution: 3 things to watch for

Orlando City SC hosts the New England Revolution at the Exploria Stadium in the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup. Here are three talking points for the match.

The Round of 16 in the U.S. Open Cup gets underway on Tuesday as the fight for the Lamar Hunt Trophy continues. While attention in recent weeks has been drawn towards the U.S. Women’s National Team’s dominating performances in the group stage of the World Cup in France and build up towards the CONCACAF Gold Cup, MLS has been on a break since June 9th. This time off allotted players whose respective clubs are out of the U.S. Open Cup and are not involved in the Gold Cup a short break to recharge their batteries.

For some, however, the show must go on.

Orlando City SC’s quest to attain its first trophy since joining MLS continues. If recent history between Orlando City and their Round of 16 opponents, the New England Revolution, is anything to go by, Wednesday night’s matchup should prove exciting.

Here are three talking points to keep in mind when the game kicks off at the newly named Exploria Stadium.

3. Let the goals pour in

Ever since their first meeting in 2015, Orlando City SC vs New England Revolution has always proved been a tense and entertaining affair. Through nine matches played, the sides have combined to score an average of 4.22 goals. For reference, the average for the entirety of the MLS was 3.19 goals in 2018.

Both Orlando City SC and the New England Revolution have struggled defensively the past three seasons. New England has given up 54, 61, and 55 goals from 2016-2018, respectively. Orlando City SC’s defense, on the other hand, has been anemic allowing 60, 58, and 74 during the same time. This season, however, Orlando improved its backline, while the Revolution are tied with FC Cincinnati for second-worst defensive record in MLS.

While the relatively high scores from recent meetings may be more the case of bad defense and poor play all around rather than sheer attacking prowess, there is no denying that these two clubs have provided for some memorable matches, especially from Orlando’s perspective.

In conjunction with the frailty at the back, both Orlando City SC and the New England Revolution have boasted skilled attackers. Lest we forget the days of Cyle Larin, Kei Kamara, and Kaká.

New England now has the services of Carles Gil, who has been the Revolution’s best all-around player this season following his arrival from La Liga side, Deportivo de La Coruña. Cristian Penilla had a stellar year for the club in 2018, and while he too was a victim of a poor start to 2019, he is vital to the attacking threat for the Revolution.

Orlando City has Nani, who has filled the shoes of Kaka as the leader in the locker room. Tesho Akindele and Sacha Kljestan have come alive over recent matches as goal-scoring threats for the Lions. On top of this, Chris Mueller manages to ignite the attack whenever he is on the pitch, and Dom Dwyer, who has not had the best of seasons to date, still offers the potential to turn a match on its head.

Goals, it seems, are inevitable.