Philadelphia Union will face Orlando City SC on Wednesday at Inter & Co Stadium in Orlando, Florida, with Sergii Boiko set to referee the match. The Union arrive winless in five matches and sitting at the bottom of the Eastern Conference, while Orlando City is one spot above them with 10 points.
The meeting gives Philadelphia a chance to answer a stretch that has left it second-to-bottom in the Supporters’ Shield standings. Orlando City has three wins in its last five matches and has already beaten Philadelphia once this year, a 4-2 result on Matchday 1 in which Tai Baribo, Daniel Gazdag and Michael Uhre scored for the Union and Marco Pašalić replied for Orlando.
That earlier result is one of the few signs Philadelphia can lean on. Orlando has won two of the last five meetings between the sides, and those five games also included two draws. Wednesday’s match could again turn on whether the Union can make the first break through, because Orlando City has not kept a shutout in MLS this year and has conceded 34 goals in 12 league games.
Orlando’s attack has been productive enough to keep it afloat. It has scored 16 goals in MLS play, and Martin Ojeda has been the main reason for that output with seven goals in 2026, nearly half of the club’s total. Pašalić and Spicer have two goals each, while Pašalić is questionable for Wednesday’s fixture because of a thigh injury. Joran Gerbet is out with a knee injury, and Nolan Miller is also questionable with a knee injury.
The home side’s numbers show why games involving Orlando tend to open up. It averages 44.4% possession per match and ranks 26th in MLS in that category, with a -12.7 xG difference and a -18 goal difference. Martin Perelman has mostly used a 5-3-2 formation this year, changing shape only once in the last five games, when Orlando beat reigning MLS champions Inter Miami 4-3. It also edged USL League One side FC Naples 1-0 in the US Open Cup Round of 32.
Philadelphia’s own attack has offered little margin for error. The Union have earned points in just four of their 12 games this year, have one win and three draws in their last six, and have scored one goal in their last 270 minutes of play. They have scored 10 goals in 12 games this year, though they did manage three in a 3-3 draw with Toronto last month. Philadelphia is out of the CONCACAF Champions Cup and is not participating in the US Open Cup, so Wednesday leaves league play as the clearest path to change its season’s direction.
The officiating crew for the match includes Corey Rockwell as the first assistant referee, Adam Wienckowski as the second assistant referee, Elvis Osmanovic as the fourth official, Joe Dickerson as VAR and Craig Lowry as AVAR. Orlando City also has another notable piece coming later, with Antoine Griezmann’s contract officially beginning in June. For now, though, the focus is on whether Philadelphia can stop the slide before the standings and the calendar pull further away.
