Orlando City SC at Charlotte FC in MLS Action

sports_and_leagues

Looking to regain its early season form, Charlotte FC plays host to Orlando City SC in a Major League Soccer match on Saturday, July 5. Kickoff is slated for 7:15 p.m. ET from Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte, NC with the match televised on FS1. Charlotte opened the season with six wins in their first nine matches, but has since fallen out of a playoff spot by losing nine of their last 11. Both teams aim to get back in the win column after dropping their most recent match. Charlotte lost at Chicago, its third straight setback, while Orlando City saw its 2-game winning streak end with a 2-1 loss to Cincinnati.

Orlando City SC at Charlotte FC Match Preview

Charlotte’s recent slump can be attributed to leaky defense. The club has allowed multiple goals in nine of its last 10 games and is among the worst in MLS in goals against. In Saturday’s loss to the Chicago Fire, Charlotte surrendered three first half goals, the first two coming in a 2-minute span, and couldn’t recover. That tough start could have been a carryover from the previous match when Charlotte allowed two second-half stoppage time goals in a 2-1 loss to Sporting Kansas City. It was Charlotte’s first loss this season when leading at halftime.

Pep Biel leads the attack with a team-high tying six goals and eight assists. Charlotte has shown they can put the ball in the net with 32 goals. However, 22 of those tallies have come from four players. Biel and Patrick Agyemang lead the squad with Liel Abada and Whilfied Zaha scoring five apiece.

Orlando City is looking to rebound from a heartbreaking 2-1 defeat to Cincinnati last time out. Evander tallied twice for the opponent, including the match’s first goal in first-half stoppage time. Orlando dominated play for much of the game outshooting Cincy 17-9 but they couldn’t overcome the deficit getting their lone goal from Marco Pasalic in the 87th minute. The loss ended a 2-game winning streak and was just the fifth loss of the season for Orlando.

Orlando City SC at Charlotte FC Head to Head

The clubs met in last season’s playoffs with Orlando winning a tightly contested best-of-three first round series two games to one. Neither team did much offensively with Orlando scoring three full-time goals to Charlotte’s one. The final two matches went to penalty kicks with Orlando advancing with a 4-1 edge in Game 3. During the 2024 regular season, the clubs were separated by just one win and one point in the East standings with both having a plus-9 goal differential. They met in May in Florida with Orlando getting a 3-1 victory. Muriel, Ojeda and Enrique notched the goals for Orlando with Zaha countering with Charlotte’s lone tally.

Orlando City SC at Charlotte FC Betting Tips

It’s a good soccer bet that this match doesn’t end in a draw. Charlotte has played just one tie and it came in the season opener on February 22 in Seattle. Their last 19 contests have all produced a winner. And unfortunately for Charlotte they’ve been on the losing end in most of them, including the last three and nine of the past 11.

Orlando City SC at Charlotte FC Prediction

Going strictly off the numbers Orlando City is the smart play. They have just five losses in 20 matches and own the third best goal differential in the Eastern Conference at +11. Led by Pasilic and Martin Ojeda with nine goals apiece, Orlando has scored the second-most goals in the Eastern Conference and is third overall in MLS. And that’s not good for a Charlotte club that’s struggled to keep the ball out of its net. The good news for Charlotte, though, is that they return home after a five-match road trip that saw them go 1-4. Their blazing start to the season was aided by four straight home wins where they scored opponents 13-2. With their next three matches on their home pitch Charlotte can get right back in the playoff picture. The team can produce goals making the OVER a solid wager. And despite their recent hardships getting back home should help Charlotte.