Our road trip is nearing an end…
NYCFC travel to Orlando City hoping to finish this three-game stretch on a winning note.
Here are our Major Keys to the game…
Bouncing Back
There was not a single positive to take from the midweek defeat to Real Salt Lake, according to Patrick Vieira.
The Frenchman was angry at himself for the selection and his team for not “wanting it more” than RSL in Utah but now it’s time to turn the page and show a reaction.
NYCFC have done a pretty good job of bouncing back from defeats so far in 2017, ensuring that we haven’t lost two successive games this season, always coming back to win the next one.
In fact, Vieira hasn’t lost back-to-back MLS Regular Season games in more than a year so he’ll be hoping to see an answer to Wednesday night’s loss from his players.
Bogey Team
However, there’s no team NYCFC seemingly loathe playing more than Orlando City.
Jason Kreis’s side are something of a bogey team for the boys in blue and are currently on an unbeaten run of six games against their fellow 2015 expansion-ers.
Already at this early point in the season, The Lions have defeated Sunday’s visitors twice – mainly thanks to the head of Cyle Larin.
The Canadian striker’s insane record against NYCFC hardly needs emphasizing again – the forward will happily take any half-chance offered up to him, so it’s vital the supply line is cut off on this occasion.
Possession Kings
For anyone who’s watched NYCFC’s opening 11 games, it will come as no surprise that Vieira’s men have enjoyed the most possession in MLS with 59.6%.
Only against Atlanta United have we had less possession than the opposition and that ended up working out pretty well for the boys in blue, showing it isn't about how much you have but rather what you do with the ball when you have it.
It should make for an interesting tactical battle of wits between Vieira and Kreis on Sunday. How will NYCFC go about ensuring that his team aren’t picked off on the counter by the in-form triumvirate of Kaka, Nelson Rivas and Larin this time around? Will we be more ruthless in front of goal than we were on the opening weekend?
On The Road
One thing NYCFC can usually guarantee from road games is goals.
The team have only been shut out in three of 22 Regular Season away games since the start of Vieira’s reign and our 34 road goals is more than any other team in that timespan.
One of the places we have been shut out is Orlando City Stadium on the opening day of the season – a fact we’ll be looking to put right this weekend.
Full Circle
Sunday’s game comes on the fourth anniversary of NYCFC’s Founding Day and it seems somewhat fitting that it’s in the city where we played our first-ever MLS game.
