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Tonight, the Philadelphia Union have a chance to return to the U.S. Open Cup semifinals for the first time since 2015. They’ll take on struggling Orlando City SC, who sit ninth in the Eastern Conference.
After stumbling out of the gate, OCSC ripped off six straight wins from late March to early May. That run was mirrored by a six-game losing streak that claimed Jason Kreis’s job on June 15th. A month later, Orlando City have a new head coach (James O’Connor, who played for the club in its USL days and went on to coach club affiliate Louisville City) and, for the first time since May 6th, a league win.
Union fans may see the similarities between this year’s Orlando team and the 2014 Union side that made a run to the Open Cup final under interim head coach Jim Curtin. With a playoff berth unlikely, Orlando will surely be throwing everything at this competition, knowing that they’re only three games away from silverware.
Projected lineups
Philadelphia Union: John McCarthy; Keegan Rosenberry, Auston Trusty, Mark McKenzie, Fabinho; Alejandro Bedoya, Haris Medunjanin; Ilsinho, Borek Dočkal, Fafa Picault; Cory Burke
Orlando City SC: Earl Edwards Jr.; RJ Allen, Chris Schuler, Amro Tarek, Mohamed El-Munir; Donny Toia, Will Johnson; Chris Mueller, Sacha Kljestan, Dillon Powers; Stefano Pinho
How to watch
Where: Talen Energy Stadium
When: 7:00 P.M. ET, July 18, 2018
Streaming: U.S. Soccer