A quirk in the fixture scheduling in the MLS sees Philadelphia Union facing off against Orlando City in successive matches on Saturday evening with The Union returning to their Talen Energy Stadium for this clash.
Philadelphia recorded a convincing 3-1 win away from home in Orlando on Wednesday night to extend their lead at the top of the Eastern Conference with a 4-point cushion over 2nd placed DC United.
Check the Sights🔥 & Sounds💥 of our roaring 3-1 winner over Orlando last night!📸🎥 👉https://t.co/zgSGv4QCoq#DOOP | Presented by @PremierOrthoUSA pic.twitter.com/CQRhL2vv8M— Philadelphia Union (@PhilaUnion) July 4, 2019
Check the Sights🔥 & Sounds💥 of our roaring 3-1 winner over Orlando last night!📸🎥 👉https://t.co/zgSGv4QCoq#DOOP | Presented by @PremierOrthoUSA pic.twitter.com/CQRhL2vv8M
The win over Orlando would have been particularly pleasing for Philadelphia as they’d previously been handed a 4-2 loss at New York City, so to bounce back with a convincing win on the road would have been a timely boost for the league leaders.
Overall form on home turf at their Talen Energy Stadium has been pretty steady throughout this season in the MLS as the hosts have registered 6 wins out of their first 10 home matches of the campaign.
Within this record, Philly have suffered just 1 defeat out of their last 9 matches on home soil which was a surprising 3-1 loss to Portland Timbers, but they’ve won 3 of the last 4 meetings against Saturday’s opponents, Orlando City.
Onto Orlando City then, and the visitors were dealt a heavy defeat at home by Saturday’s hosts, Philadelphia Union, and they could be forgiven for wishing they’d seen the back of Philly instead of having to face them in their own backyard again this weekend.
Recent results have been patchy for Orlando as the visitors have recorded wins over Montreal Impact and Columbus Crew (both away from home) but have also suffered losses to LA Galaxy, DC United and most recently, Philadelphia Union.
Although Orlando City have registered 3 away wins out of their 9 away matches to date this season in the MLS, their inconsistent streak has regularly let them down.
The bigger picture shows us that Orlando have tended to struggle on their travels in the MLS for some time now as the visitors have claimed just 3 road wins out of their last 23 matches which is a pretty poor record.
Recent history also appears to be against Orlando City when facing Philadelphia Union as their hosts have won 3 of the last 4 encounters.
To sum up, Philadelphia received a timely boost on Wednesday night and should take the spoils in this clash too.