The East 2 standings at the Leagues Cup will be decided on Sunday when Orlando City host Atletico San Luis at Inter & Co Stadium.
After winning their opening match of this competition, 4-1 versus CF Montreal, the Lions are at the top of the table with three points, while San Luis are bottom of the group following a 3-2 defeat against Le CFM.
Match preview
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Since the beginning of July, Orlando City have come to life, unbeaten in their last six competitive fixtures, five of which were victories.
Their convincing triumph on matchday one of this tournament has them virtually assured of a place in the knockout phase, as only a defeat on Sunday by six or more goals would eliminate them from this competition.
It may still be mathematically possible for them to be eliminated, though it would be difficult to envision that scenario given that they have never lost a Leagues Cup group fixture at home.
Oscar Pareja's side have dominated their opponents on the scoresheet at Inter & Co Stadium recently, unbeaten in four successive home matches across all competitions, netting 14 goals over that stretch and conceding only four.
A victory in normal time on Sunday would give them six points, eclipsing the club record in a single Leagues Cup group phase (five in 2023).
Orlando City have lost their only two matches played against Mexican opposition in this competition, with both defeats coming by a single goal versus Santos Laguna.
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Despite a late surge by Domenec Torrent's men in their Leagues Cup opener, it proved to be in vain as San Luis continue to seek their first points at this tournament.
While a victory this weekend would force a three-way tie in the group standings, the Mexicans would need a two-goal triumph to vault into one of the two knockout positions.
Atleti have found the back of the net in 13 of their last 14 matches played across all competitions, with their previous multi-goal victory occurring on matchday 17 of the 2024 Clausura campaign (3-0 over Santos Laguna).
The two-time Ascenso MX champions have won their last two competitive games when scoring in the opening half, though they have not been able to do that in four consecutive matches.
With just one goal on Sunday, this team would eclipse their total from the 2023 Leagues Cup group stage, while they have yet to post a clean sheet in this event.
They have not lost consecutive competitive fixtures since March-April of the Clausura campaign, when Atleti suffered four successive defeats.
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Team News
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The Lions will be without Mason Stajduhar for the remainder of the year following a nasty collision earlier in the campaign, and Michael Halliday continues to recover from a knee issue.
Duncan McGuire will miss this upcoming fixture as the 23-year-old Orlando City striker is still with the US Olympic squad in Paris.
Dan Thorhallsson scored seven minutes into their encounter with Montreal before Facundo Torres, Ramiro Enrique and Martin Ojeda padded the lead with goals of their own.
In their opening game of this tournament, Atleti welcomed Vitinho back into the opening lineup for the first time since he sustained a knee injury.
The Brazilian was one of three new faces to the starting 11 who did not begin their domestic contest versus Club Tijuana as he, Iker Moreno and captain Javier Guemez replaced Ricardo Chavez, Oscar Macias and Ronaldo Najera.
Second-half penalties converted by Jurgen Damm and Franck Boli were a mere consolation for the Mexicans against Le CFM earlier this week.
Orlando City possible starting lineup:
Gallese; Thorhallsson, Schlegel, Jansson, Santos; Araujo, Cartagena; Lodeiro, Ojeda, Torres; Muriel
Atletico San Luis possible starting lineup:
Sanchez; Dominguez, Dourado, Cruz; Moreno, Salles-Lamonge, Najera, Sanabria; Vitinho, Klimowicz; Boli
We say: Orlando City 2-0 Atletico San Luis
Orlando seem to be hitting their stride, and we believe they will be able to exploit a desperate San Luis side that tend to leave a lot of space in behind their backline.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Joel Lefevre
