Philadelphia Union will be looking to make it three wins from three home games in the new Major League Soccer campaign when they play host to Orlando City at Subaru Park on Saturday.

The Lions, on the other hand, head into the weekend without a win away from home since last August's 2-1 victory at Charlotte FC and will be looking to end this dry spell.

Match preview

Philadelphia Union suffered their second league defeat of the season last Sunday when they were beaten 3-2 by CF Montreal in a pulsating showdown at the Saputo Stadium.

A brace from Danish forward Mikael Uhre saw the visitors hold a 2-1 lead heading into the final minute of the game, but Nnamdi Chinonso Offor restored parity on the 90th-minute mark before Romell Quioto struck in the eighth minute of stoppage time to complete a remarkable comeback.

Prior to that, Jim Curtin's men booked their place in the quarter-finals of the CONCACAF Champions League on March 15 as they thrashed El Salvador side Alianza FC 4-0 in the second leg of their last-16 tie, having played out a goalless draw in the first leg.

Philadelphia Union now return to Subaru Park, where they are currently on a blistering run of six straight wins across all competitions and went the entire 2022 league campaign without a defeat, claiming 12 wins and five draws in their 17 matches.

Orlando City, on the other hand, failed to find their feet as they suffered a 2-1 defeat against Charlotte FC when the sides squared off at the Exploria Stadium last weekend.

Despite seeing the bulk of the chances, the hosts were guilty of a lack of cutting-edge in the attacking third as Enzo Copetti and Kerwin Calderon Vargas put Charlotte two goals up in the first half before Martin Ojeda halved the deficit in the 56th minute.

This followed a 1-1 home draw with Mexican outfit Tigres UANL in their CONCACAF Champions League last-16 second leg, a result which saw the Lions crash out of the tournament on away goals following a first-leg goalless draw on March 8.

Oscar Pareja's men have now failed to win any of their last five matches across all competitions, picking up four draws and losing once since Facundo Torres's second-half penalty helped them to a 1-0 win over New York Red Bulls in February's league opener.

While Orlando City will be looking to stop the rot and get their MLS campaign up and running, standing in their way is a Philadelphia Union side who have won each of the last three league meetings between the teams and are unbeaten in seven of their last eight encounters since September 2018.

Team News

Philadelphia Union will take to the pitch without Argentine forward Julian Carranza, who will serve a one-game suspension for picking up a red card against Montreal last time out.

In his absence, 26-year-old Joaquin Torres will push for his first start of the season, forming a front two with Uhre, who has started all four matches so far.

On the injury front, Curtin will be unable to call upon first-choice goalkeeper Andre Blake, who has missed the last two matches, meaning that 33-year-old Joe Bendik will retain his spot between the sticks.

Meanwhile, Orlando City remain without American youngster Favian Loyola, who continued his long journey to full fitness after suffering a thigh injury.

Goals have been hard to come by for the Lions so far, but we expect an unchanged attacking trio of Dagur Dan Porhallsson, Duncan McGuire and Facundo Torres, who hit nine league goals last term.

Philadelphia Union possible starting lineup:
Bendik; Mbaizo, Glesnes, Elliott, Wagner; Martinez; Flach, Bedoya; Gazdag; Uhre, Toress

Orlando City possible starting lineup:
Gallese; Halliday, Schlegel, Jansson, Petrasso; Pereyra, Araujo, Ojeda; Torres, Porhallsson, McGuire

We say: Philadelphia Union 2-0 Orlando City

Philadelphia Union are near impenetrable on home turf and we expect Curtin's side to turn-up at Subaru Park once again. Orlando City are currently struggling to find their footing so we fancy a slender victory for the home side in this one.

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