It's an Eastern Conference clash on national television as Philadelphia Union travels to Florida for a showdown against Orlando City SC on Thursday night. Kick off from Orlando is set for 7:30 p.m. ET and will be seen on ESPN and ESPN Deportes with fans also able to listen to the action via the FOX The Gambler broadcast which is available via 102.5 FM, 104.5 HD2, the iHeart App and 1480 AM.
The second placed Union enter the midweek match coming off a 2-1 home win against rival D.C. United on Thursday night. Sergio Santos had a breakout performance netting the opening goal in the first half and setting up Kacper Przybylko in the 83rd minute for the winner. Newcomer Daniel Gazdag too had a strong match in his debut to the Union faithful at Subaru Park, delivering a quick flick to Santos for the Hungarian's first MLS assist.
Thursday night will be the first league match that the two sides have squared off with Orlando taking a 3-1 preseason result. The Union are unbeaten in four straight matches (W1 D3) against Orlando and own a 5-3-5 advantage in the all-time series.
Sitting only one point behind the Union, Orlando City SC are looking to for their first win since June 25th with losses to New York Red Bull and Chicago Fire FC. Over the weekend Oscar Pareja's side battled back for a 1-1 draw at Toronto FC with a penalty kick equalizer from Nani. While the Lions are 3-1-2 in front of their home fans, they'll be looking to bounce back from their first loss at Exploria Stadium after falling to New York Red Bulls on July 3rd. Nani will be the key for the Lions with seven goals to lead the offense with the trio of Tesho Akindele, Mauricio Pereyra and Chris Mueller have all set up four goals for Orlando City.
