Orlando City will look to extend their unbeaten start to the Major League Soccer season on Saturday, when they travel north to take on New York Red Bulls.
The visitors took their tally to 12 points from their first six league matches of the season with a 1-0 home victory over Toronto, maintaining their second spot, while their hosts most recently suffered a 3-1 away defeat to New England Revolution.
Match preview
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New York Red Bulls suffered their fourth defeat of the MLS season on Sunday, as they travelled to take on league leaders New England Revolution.
The visitors took the lead through an early Andres Reyes goal, but the game was then turned on its head on the stroke of half time as a Gustavo Bou equaliser was quickly followed by a red card for the opening scorer Reyes.
It did not take long for the hosts to make the most of their man advantage, as they took the lead immediately before the break through Tajon Buchanan before Adam Buksa put the game out of sight with a third goal in the dying minutes.
That followed a 1-0 defeat away to Philadelphia Union, as they were unable to come back after Cory Burke's opener in the ninth minute.
With a disappointing tally of six points from their first six games of the domestic season, Gerhard Struber's side sit in 10th spot in the Eastern Conference, although with just a three-point gap between themselves and fifth-placed Atlanta United, the landscape could quickly change if the New York outfit improve their form.
That will be a tough task on Saturday, as they take on an Orlando City side who are yet to taste defeat in MLS action this season.
The visitors picked up a second consecutive victory last time out, as a Tesho Akindele goal in the 12th minute saw them to a 1-0 home win over Toronto FC.
Before that, the Lions secured another 1-0 victory, as Orlando again struck early with Mauricio Pereyra netting the winning goal after just seven minutes in their away clash against DC United.
That means Oscar Pareja's side have now won three and drawn three of their first six MLS games, putting them in a strong position in the Eastern Conference.
Currently, the Lions only trail New England Revolution by two points, while the group leaders have played a game more than Orlando, meaning Pareja's men could briefly move to the top of the table if they win on Saturday before the New England outfit play later that day.
Their strong league position is largely down to a solid defensive record, with no side in the MLS conceding as few as the two goals that Pareja's men have shipped in six matches, with four clean sheets helping them to build a strong start to the season.
They will look to extend that unbeaten run to seven games on Saturday, and put more pressure on New England Revolution at the top of the table with a victory.
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Team News
New York Red Bulls defender Andres Reyes will miss out on Saturday's clash through suspension following his red card in the defeat to New England Revolution.
He joins a growing list of absentees, as Amro Tarek, Florian Valot and Jason Pendant should all continue spells on the sidelines through injury.
Defender Aaron Long is also out of action, having picked up an Achilles injury at the weekend to rule him out for an extended period of time.
Orlando City will remain without talisman Nani, who will serve the second match of his two-game suspension on Saturday, having netted three goals in his first five games of the season.
They will also be without forward Alexandre Pato through injury, although Tesho Akindele has led the line well with two goals and an assist in six MLS matches this season.
Antonio Carlos and Robin Jansson should continue their solid partnership at the heart of the back four, having kept another clean sheet last time out.
New York Red Bulls possible starting lineup:
Carlos; Edwards, Nealis, Duncan, Gutman; Casseres, Davis, Amaya, Clark; Royer, Fabio
Orlando City possible starting lineup:
Gallese; Smith, Jansson, Carlos, Schlegel; Urso, Mendez; Mueller, Pereyra, Michel; Akindele
We say: New York Red Bulls 0-2 Orlando City
The form of the two sides at the beginning of the season only suggests another victory for Orlando City on Saturday, and we see them comfortably getting past a New York Red Bulls side who are yet to hit their stride.
The hosts may struggle to break down one of the league's strongest defences, while the Lions should still have enough attacking threat to cause problems, even without Nani.
Top tip
Sam Varley
Data Analysis
Our analysis of all available data, including recent performances and player stats up until an hour before kickoff, suggested the most likely outcome of this match was a New York Red Bulls win with a probability of 45.09%. A win for Orlando City had a probability of 28.19% and a draw had a probability of 26.7%.
The most likely scoreline for a New York Red Bulls win was 1-0 with a probability of 11.99%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 2-1 (8.91%) and 2-0 (8.45%). The likeliest Orlando City win was 0-1 (8.98%), while for a drawn scoreline it was 1-1 (12.65%). The actual scoreline of 2-1 was predicted with an 8.9% likelihood. Our data analysis correctly predicted that New York Red Bulls would win this match.
