Philadelphia Union looks for bounce-back performance vs Orlando City SC: “We just have to exploit moments in the game, we have a game plan, and we hope that comes to fruition.”

“It’s a unique situation, I think usually you face teams on Matchday 1 and Matchday 18, not Matchday 7. So again, we saw them a little over a month ago, what has changed, what can change, they have their way, we have our way. I think it’s pretty much everybody knows exactly what we are trying to do, and I think it’s going to be the match-ups on the day that make the difference.” – Bradley Carnell on facing Orlando City twice in the first 7 Matchdays

After failing to get a point down in South Florida despite putting Miami’s backline under pressure all game long, Bradley Carnell’s Philadelphia Union will look for a bounce-back performance in front of a Subaru Park crowd as Orlando City SC come to town for the 2nd meeting between the two sides in 6 weeks on Saturday night.

It’s the first of three home games for the Union in April. They will look to build on their strong 4W-0D-2L start to the season, which has them sitting third in the Eastern Conference with 12 points in their pocket.

“Again it’s Thursday, the world has changed in 4 days time, our landscape has moved on to Orlando, but I think we can take something away [from the loss to Miami] that we’re a very competitive unit, 2-0 down, we knew we were still in the game. We give up 6 shots away from home, we shoot 20 times on their goal, we had a very good return in the final 3rd in terms on the press we put them under.” – Bradley Carnell on the positives from Union’s 2-1 loss to Miami

Union, MLS — Image Credit: Philadelphia Union

How to watch Union vs Orlando City SC

When: Saturday, April 5th @ 7:30 pm
Where: Subaru Park – Chester, PA
Where to Watch: MLS Season Pass, Apple TV+

Philadelphia Union vs Orlando City SC Betting Odds

Philadelphia Union: +105
Orlando City SC: +210
Draw: +255

MLS Matchday 7 Schedule and Betting Guide: Union host Orlando, Austin takes on surging Portland

Preview By The Numbers

*Current Form – Last 5 Games*	Philadelphia Union: W, W, L, W, L	Orlando City SC: W, L, D, W, W
*Expected Goals:*	Philadelphia:13.92 xG (1st best)	Orlando: 12.99 xG (4th best)
*Total Goals Scored:*	Philadelphia Union: 13 goals scored (2nd best)	Orlando City SC: 15 goals scored (1st best)
*Expected Conceded Goals:*	Philadelphia: 7.7 xGA (11th best)	Orlando: 10.2 xGA (21st best)
*Goals Conceded:*	Philadelphia Union: 8 goals conceded (T-7th best)	Orlando City SC: 12 goals conceded (T-League Worst)
*Top Goal-Scorers:*	Philadelphia: Baribo – 6, Lukić, Gazdag – 2, Damiani, Uhre, Glavinovich – 1	Orlando: Segovia – 3, Allende – 2, Messi, Suárez, Avilés, Picault – 1
*Top Assists Leaders:*	Philadelphia Union: Wagner, Sullivan – 4, Gazdag, Westfield – 2, Bedoya, Donovan, Vassilev – 1	Orlando City SC: Ojeda, Pašalić – 4, Muriel – 3, Freeman – 2

Head To Head

In 23 meetings across all competitions between the two teams, Union has a record of 9W-6D-8L all-time against The Lions and has outscored Orlando by 42GF to 33GA.

Daniel Gazdag’s 4 goals against Orlando are the most by any active player in this matchup. Union’s former striker Kacper Przybylko is the most frequent goalscorer between the two teams, with 6 goals scored.

Orlando has had the Union’s number over recent years, losing just 1 of the previous 5 meetings between the two clubs. The only loss came on the Opening Night of the 2025 MLS season earlier this year [4-2 Union].

Orlando City SC’s Season So Far

Óscar Pareja’s Orlando City have a record 3W-1D-2L for a total of 10 points after 6 games, which currently has them sitting in 7th place in the Eastern Conference.

When the two sides met on the opening night of the 2025 MLS season, Orlando jumped out to an early 1-0 lead before being blindsided by four unanswered goals (Baribo—23rd, 64th, Gazdag—48th, Uhre—51st) that sealed all three points for the Union on the road.

Pareja’s side started the season with 2 losses in their first 3 games [4-2 loss to Union, 2-1 loss to NYCFC], but have found a way to get points in the following 3 games, drawing on the road against Red Bulls [2-2 draw], and beating DC United and LA Galaxy in a come-from-behind performance in consecutive weeks coming into Saturday’s game.

“So yeah we can acknowledge and see what happened and how the game went in Orlando, but I think they come in here with a lot of spirit, a lot of energy, turning around a game while playing away from home on the west coast is never easy and they get the result in the fashion that they did, I’m sure they’re going to be energetic, and it’s gonna be a tough opponent.” – Bradley Carnell on Orlando’s recent form.

Orlando City SC’s Predicted Starting XI

Though he has more available players at his disposal than when the teams first met in Matchday 1, it seems that Óscar Pareja has settled on his preferred starting XI.

Lining up in a 4-2-3-1, here’s how I think Orlando City will set up against Union on Saturday night:

Formation: 4-2-3-1

GK: Gallesse
RB: Freeman, CB: Schlegel, CB: Jansson, LB: Santos
CDM: Araújo, CDM: Atuesta
RW: Pašalić, CAM: Ojeda, LW: Angulo
ST: Muriel

“Listen they have a lot of good players on the ball, they have difference makers on the ball. I spoke about it – Anguglo, Pašalić, Duncan McGuire, Muriel, Ojeda – the list goes on and on. So individually they’re very good, we just have to exploit moments in the game, we have a game plan and we hope that comes to fruition.” – Bradley Carnell on the attacking threat in Orlando’s lineup

Philadelphia Union Predicted Starting XI

Bradley Carnell addressed the media on Thursday afternoon to give an update on the squad. While he’s certainly getting closer to returning to full fitness, Kai Wagner has been deemed “Questionable” heading into the weekend.

“He’s OK. Everyday I think he’s a couple percent more [closer to full fitness]. Im not sure, I think it’s still questionable. We don’t want to push anything and get delayed by multiple weeks, so right now in the next 24 hours we will know if he will be eligible for this weekend, but I don’t think so.” – Bradley Carnell on Kai Wagner’s availability

Other than Kai’s uncertain involvement in Saturday’s match, it seems like the rest of Union’s squad is available and ready to go. I wouldn’t be surprised to see a change or two from last week’s starting XI, particularly in the Striker department.

“I think there’s fluctuation within each week. I think there’s moments where we have conversations or we see in training with certain relationships and we make certain teams and see how that clicks and we try to work on our connectedness as a group, especially with the front group, and we see who is clicking on all cylinders and is ticking all the boxes I would say. It’s never an easy decision, it’s really tough, and I said it a couple of weeks ago – I love the competition, and I think we’ve reaped the rewards of that.” – Bradley Carnell on Inter-squad competition

Formation: 4-2-2-2

GK: Andre Blake
RB: Frankie Westfield, CB: Jakob Glesnes, CB: Ian Glavinovich, LB: Nathan Harriel
CDM: Danley Jean-Jacques, CDM: Jovan Lukic
CAM: Quinn Sullivan, CAM: Daniel Gazdag
ST: Bruno Damiani, ST: Tai Baribo

“This is an Orlando team that is very, very dangerous. They have some key playmakers, not just with the service but with the runs in the box and they’re very difficult to contain, so we’re going to have our work cut out but this is the challenge of the game on Matchday – who get’s out of bed feeling the best, and who brings it when the referee blows that whistle.” – Bradley Carnell on the matchup against Orlando