Preview: Orlando City vs. DC United - prediction, team news, lineups

A pair of Eastern Conference sides coming off emotional wins earlier this week will try to keep their momentum going as Orlando City host DC United on Saturday at Exploria Stadium.

The Lions ended a four-game losing streak with a 2-2 draw in the music city against Nashville SC, while DC have won three of their last four matches, after getting past Minnesota United 3-1.

Match preview

A season that looked to be on the decline took an unexpected turn for Oscar Pareja and his Orlando side, who came back from 2-0 down with a pair of goals in the final 14 minutes to pick up a valuable point in their previous match.

In the previous week the Lions were unlucky to come away with nothing against the top-seeded New England Revolution, losing on an own-goal, but on Wednesday, some good karma came back their way for a change with an own-goal from Nashville midfielder Brian Anunga in injury-time.

That draw keeps Orlando in a playoff position, currently holding down the final spot in the east, sitting two points above CF Montreal.

With six shots on target and 64% of the possession versus the Black-and-Gold, they were full marks to pocket a draw, playing with a real purpose and commitment that we had not seen from them in weeks.

With so much adrenaline and emotions going through Orlando from that dramatic comeback, they will have to make sure that they can turn their attention to this game on Saturday, with an opportunity to potentially move up the Eastern Conference table.

The Lions are tied on points with New York City FC, the Philadelphia Union and Atlanta United, but they are the only one of those sides with an inferior goal difference, which currently sits at -1.

It is incredible how quickly things can shift, and the tables have turned in a big way for DC United in the Eastern Conference, following their second consecutive victory on Wednesday.

While they are as high as they have ever been in the standings this year, sitting in third place, Hernan Losada knows that his players cannot afford to take their foot off the gas with four teams breathing down their neck, just a point behind the Black-and-Red.

After scoring multiple goals in only one of their opening seven fixtures this year, they have been one of the most clinical sides in the final third lately, scoring 13 times in September, with 48 strikes so far this year, second only to the New England Revolution.

Last month DC scored nine of their 13 goals in the second half, losing only one of their five fixtures as they are now in a strong position to make the playoffs for the first time since 2019.

If they can maintain their current standing, it would be their best finish to a regular season since 2014, when they ended the year in first place in their conference with 59 points.

To beat that total, they will need six wins and a draw from their final seven fixtures, and given how unpredictable this season has been, it would be hard to bet against that happening.