Preview: Orlando City vs. Los Angeles Galaxy - prediction, team news, lineups

Oscar Pareja's men, on the other hand, head into the weekend on a run of three consecutive home defeats and will be looking to end this poor run.

Match preview

Orlando City continue to struggle for results at home in the new campaign as they suffered a disappointing 3-1 at the hands of DC United last Sunday.

After Taxiarchis Fountas and Duncan McGuire scored for either side to end the first half level, Donovan Pines and Christian Benteke netted second-half goals to hand the visitors all three points.

Pareja's men have now suffered three consecutive defeats at the Exploria Stadium, losing against Charlotte FC, Nashville and DC United since their 1-1 draw against Tigres UANL in the second leg of their CONCACAF round-of-16 clash.

Orlando City have now lost three of their opening eight matches while claiming three wins and two draws to collect 11 points and sit ninth in the Eastern Conference table, level on points with DC United and Philadelphia Union.

Elsewhere, Los Angeles Galaxy finally got their season up and running as they cruised to a 2-0 victory over Austin FC at Dignity Health Sports Park last Sunday.

Veteran striker Javier Hernandez and former Barcelona man Riqui Puig scored second-half goals to hand the hosts a comfortable victory and condemn Austin to a third away defeat on the bounce.

Prior to that, Greg Vanney's men failed to win any of their opening seven matches, losing four and claiming three draws while conceding 12 goals and scoring five in that time.

Despite last weekend's victory, a horrid start to the season sees the Galaxy sit bottom but one in the Western Conference standings, three points above last-placed Sporting Kansas City.

While a win could potentially send Los Angeles Galaxy level on nine points with ninth-placed Real Salt Lake, they are without a win in five straight away matches, picking up two draws and losing three, including October's 3-2 defeat against rivals Los Angeles FC in last year's playoff quarter-finals.

Orlando City Major League Soccer form:

D

L

W

L

W

L

Los Angeles Galaxy Major League Soccer form:

D

D

L

L

L

W

Team News

Michael Halliday has been out of action since coming off with a thigh injury while on international duty with the USA Under-20 squad and the right-back will play no part in Saturday's game.

Twenty-two-year-old McGuire is also an injury doubt for Orlando City after being forced off injured in the 52nd minute in last Sunday's defeat to DC United.

The striker, who has scored three goals this season, has been a standout performer for the Lions in what has been a decent start to the campaign and Pareja will be hoping to have him in the XI once again.

Los Angeles Galaxy remain without goalkeeper Jonathan Bond, who has missed the last five matches after picking up a shoulder injury against Vancouver Whitecaps on March 19.

Barring any late fitness issues, the former Reading man should be the visitors' only absentee this weekend and Vanney could name a similar starting side to that from last weekend's victory over Austin.

Hernandez has looked sharp since his return from the sidelines and we expect the Mexican international to spearhead the attack while Lucas Calegari, Jalen Neal, Martin Caceres and Julian Aude should form the back four once again.

Orlando City possible starting lineup:

Stajduhar; Smith, Schlegel, Jansson, Petrasso; Martins, Araujo; Ojeda, Pereyra, Angulo; Enrique

Los Angeles Galaxy possible starting lineup:

Klinsmann; Calegari, Caceres, Neal, Aude; Brugman, Delgado, Puig, Boyd; Joveljic, Hernandez

We say: Orlando City 1-2 Los Angeles Galaxy

Los Angeles turned in a solid all-round performance against Austin and will head into the weekend with renewed confidence. While the Galaxy have struggled for results on the road, Orlando City's home form is nothing to write home about and we are backing them to see off the floundering hosts.

How to watch

You can watch Orlando City vs. Los Angeles Galaxy and every MLS match this season live on Apple TV. Click here for more details on how to subscribe.

For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.

Previews by email