The Challengers: Orlando City SC (2-3-2) vs. Toronto FC (1-4-0)
When: Sunday, April 26, 2015 - 7 PM ET (TSN 2, Fox Sports 1)
Weather: High of 32' degrees, 40% chance of precipitation and scattered thunderstorms expected during the day.
Toronto FC's Projected Starting XI
Player To Watch: Kaka
Kaka is not a player who slows the game down in possession. There has always been directness about his play and a move to MLS has seen the old bursts of speed, power and penetration return. He is comfortable dropping deep with his back to goal, holding off multiple opponents drawn into him, to open up more passing lanes with subtle touches but the moment the play develops Kaka bursts forward always looking to finish a play he often orchestrated
Keys To The Game: Getting It Right At The Back
Vanney acknowledged he made a mistake with his squad selection for the match in Dallas following two quick goals by the Toros. Nick Hagglund moved back to CB, while Justin Morrow took the sophomore's place at right back. The defence played much better, save for a mix up by Damien Perquis and Collen Warner, following the switch. Heading into Sunday night’s match we still don’t know if Mark Bloom will be fit to start. If he cannot, don’t be surprised if we see a back line of Morgan-Perquis-Hagglund-Morrrow.
#COYR Podcast
On this week's #COYR Podcast Devang Desai & Gareth Wheeler discuss the ideal lineup for Sunday night's match, what should be done to fix the defensive issues and look ahead to the final
two
three games of the long road trip.
The Skinny
On paper this was one of the games circled at the beginning of the season. The end of the season opening road trip sees the Reds finish out the MLS portion of the trip in two winnable locales. With that said, Orlando has been the more consistent of the two teams thus far. Kaka and Sebastian Giovinco have been as good as advertised, but their teammates will need to pick up the slack. A Toronto clean sheet would go a long way confidence wise for the team’s beleaguered defenders.
Caldwell On The Mend
“We’re giving up pretty soft goals. We’re on a tough stretch of games and confidence is a little low, but we have to help each other out a little more and not put defenders in the situations they’ve been put in.” Getting Caldwell back in the lineup will go a long way in shoring up Toronto FC’s defence.
Projected Orlando City SC Starting XI (4-3-3)
Donovan Ricketts; Brek Shea, Seb Hines, Aurelien Collin, Tyler Turner; Darwin Ceren, Amobi Okugo, Cristian Higuita; Kaká, Cyle Larin, Kevin Molino.
- Orlando City lost for the first time away from the Citrus Bowl, ending their two-game road swing with a 3-0 defeat at Columbus Crew SC on Saturday evening.
- The Lions have yet to win at home this season, following a dramatic draw with New York City FC in their first MLS match ever with a pair of losses (to Vancouver and D.C. United, the winning goal in each coming in stoppage time).
- Toronto FC saw their losing slide reach four games with a second consecutive 3-2 defeat, this time at FC Dallas on Saturday evening in the fifth match of their seven-game road swing to start the season.
- Sebastian Giovinco scored his first career two-goal game in MLS; he has three goals over the last two matches, and has been involved in each of TFC’s last four goals.
