Orlando City SC v New York City FC: Pareja finding solutions for misfiring attack

Only Inter Miami (44) have scored more goals in the Eastern Conference than Orlando (40), but they struggled to create in their 1-1 draw with CF Montreal last time out.

Indeed, Pareja's team ended that game with an expected goals (xG) total of just 0.48 from their 10 shots to a Montreal side who have leaked 41 goals already this season.

But Orlando are still in the mix, sitting sixth in the standings, but Pareja insisted that he is working on new solutions to get his offensive line firing once again.

"We're trying. We're exploring different ways to improve," Pareja said. "We haven't had a bad record offensively this year. I think, in that regard, we've been good.

"But still, we want to do better. When you try to make those improvements, sometimes the game tells you, 'Not that way.'

"It's not as easy as just moving pieces around and expecting results. That's a lesson for me, especially.

"But overall, it was a very uncomfortable game for us, even though we did enough to win. That's part of the frustration, especially because we must win at home.

"It's another chapter of, 'Okay, it could have been,' and we have to transform that into reality. That's the frustration. It was a very complicated game, not an easy one."

Pedro putting in work pic.twitter.com/XBHxNQXmGr

— Orlando City SC (@OrlandoCitySC) July 14, 2025

Orlando will be hoping to get back to winning ways this week when they welcome New York City FC to the Inter&Co Stadium, a side also looking to respond.

The Pigeons were beaten 2-0 by Charlotte FC in their last MLS encounter, leaving them seventh in the table as their struggles away from home continued.

They have won just once on the road in 2025, their second worst start away from home in their first 10 away games of a season.

But when reflecting on their defeat to Charlotte, NYCFC head coach Pascal Jansen believed that Idan Toklomati's 14th-minute opener all but decided the contest.

"It's a moment where our defensive shape allows them to attack a corridor on our right side, which was something that should not be happening at that moment," Jansen said.

"But we make up for it. Everybody realised we had to close down the spaces. Once we were back in our structure, they surprised us with a deep run in that space again.

"There was no communication between our guys at that moment which allowed them to enter the box and finish us off. Unfortunate moment because it is normally something we control quite well, but it hurt us going behind."

Ojeda continued his sensational start to the season by scoring Orlando's only goal in their draw with Montreal last time out, bringing up his 10th of the campaign.

He has now recorded a goal involvement in six consecutive regular-season matches, equalling the longest streak in team history. It is the fifth time it has been achieved, and the second by the Argentine himself, having also done so between June and July 2024.

Moralez has often enjoyed fixtures against Orlando, scoring five career regular-season goals against them, equalling his most against an opponent in the MLS (also five against the New York Red Bulls).

However, he has not found the back of the net against the Lions since 2022, and has managed just two goals and two assists in 21 league appearances this season.

Orlando have lost only two of their last 19 meetings with NYCFC dating back to May 2017, including going unbeaten in the last six (W4 D2).

And their draw with Montreal last time out was the 13th consecutive match in which they've found the net in all competitions dating back to early May. The Lions haven't had a longer goalscoring streak in all competitions since scoring in 16 straight in 2020.

NYCFC, meanwhile, have won only two of their last 26 away matches in all competitions dating back to June 2024, including going five straight without a win on the road (D2 L3). They have also failed to score in 10 of their last 14 away matches in all competitions.

Orlando City – 53.3%

Draw – 23.9%