By Kyle Foley
Orlando Sentinel Correspondent
There is no rest for the weary as Orlando City heads to San Jose for its third game in eight days.
The Lions (3-5-4, 13 points) take on the Earthquakes (3-9-1, 10 points) at PayPal Park on Saturday (MLS Season Pass, 10:30).
This matchup is the first time since 2021 that the two sides have faced each other. The Lions won that game 5-0. The last time they visited San Jose was 2019 when they lost 3-0. They’re 2-1-3 all-time against the Earthquakes.
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“I wouldn’t say it’s weird just because there’s new teams that enter the league almost every year and then there’s teams that we don’t see quite as much as the East Coast teams,” said defender Kyle Smith about facing an unfamiliar foe. “I would say [it’s] exciting to get to play in a new atmosphere against a new team that we haven’t seen recently.”
Orlando struggled to start the season but has seen an uptick in form recently. Changes to formation and personnel have improved the team’s on-field success, and midfielder Wilder Cartagena believes the team is better than they were in the opening weeks.
“Especially in the last few games, we’ve been showing ourselves to be more dangerous and attacking — a team that teams have to respect in terms of when we’re bringing the ball forward,” Cartagena said. “Similar to how we were in the last half of last year, but obviously there are a couple of minor adjustments that we have to make sometimes in terms of our movement. But I think we are playing a lot better in that area.”
Like Orlando, the Earthquakes struggled to start the season but have won three of their last five games in all competitions. San Jose also is seventh best in MLS with 1.7 goals scored per game.
The Earthquakes were going to be without centerback Bruno Wilson, a stalwart in their backline, but his red card was rescinded by the league Friday.
Ramiro Enrique (right ankle), Mikey Halliday (right knee), Robin Jansson (right ankle) and Tahir Reid-Brown (left thigh) all are out for the Lions. Cesar Araujo is suspended because of yellow-card accumulation.
Up next
Orlando City at San Jose
When: Saturday at PayPal Park, 10:30 p.m.
TV: Apple TV/MLS Season Pass
