Los Angeles FC v Orlando City: Perelman proud of ´awesome´ attitude

Martin Perelman has been thrilled with the attitude of his Orlando City players over the international break.

Orlando headed into the two-week hiatus with their tails between their legs on the back of a 5-0 hammering at Nashville SC.

That was Perelman’s second game as interim head coach. He had overseen a 2-1 win over CF Montreal in his first match after replacing Oscar Pareja.

Though Orlando, who have announced the impending signing of Antoine Griezmann in recent weeks, are in the midst of an injury crisis, Perelman has been delighted by his squad ahead of this weekend’s clash with Los Angeles FC.

“It was awesome to have time to train and practice, we really needed it,” he said.

“Unfortunately, we couldn’t have the international players but we’re really happy for them with the World Cup coming so soon.

“The players’ attitude is awesome. We are so happy with them.

“We’re focused on our team, our game – we had a lot of work to do there. We face a good team, with top players, and we will be ready for that, but we’re focused mainly on our team.

“We’re proud of the roster we have, the effort of our players, and we prepare all of them to be ready for the moment they have the opportunity. If we don’t have a certain player, we trust the guys we have on the roster.”

Orlando sit 13th in the Eastern Conference with just three points to their name. LAFC are 10 points better off and sit at the top of the West.

Clean sheet for Max pic.twitter.com/4hULYVHJZM

— Orlando City SC (@OrlandoCitySC) April 1, 2026

PLAYERS TO WATCH

LAFC – Son Heung-min

Son is yet to score in MLS this season, but the former Tottenham attacker has provided two assists in the competition.

That leads LAFC’s squad this term, while his 10 key passes are four more than any of his other team-mates have managed.

Orlando City – Maxime Crepeau

Orlando have conceded in 22 consecutive matches, the longest streak in club history. It has been almost 300 days since Orlando last kept an MLS clean sheet, doing so in a 1-0 win against the Colorado Rapids in June 2025.

Goalkeeper Crepeau, then, will be hoping to up his levels of performance and help get Orlando on track.

MATCH PREDICTION: LAFC WIN

LAFC are the first team in MLS history to keep clean sheets in each of its first five matches of a season.

Only three teams in MLS history have kept clean sheets in six straight games at any point in a season with only one (New York City FC in 2022) doing so in the last 15 years.

Orlando’s -12 goal difference through five matches is the worst at this stage of a season in MLS history. They have conceded 17 times, making them the second team to allow more than 15 goals in their first five matches of a season (Minnesota United – 20 in 2017).

LAFC have won seven straight home MLS matches across the regular season and playoffs, outscoring opponents, 15-2, in those matches.

LAFC are unbeaten in four regular-season meetings with Orlando (W3 D1) with both teams scoring in all four games.

This will be Orlando’s first visit to BMO Stadium since July 2018, when they suffered a 4-1 defeat to LAFC.

OPTA WIN PROBABILITY

LAFC – 66%

Draw – 18.5%

Orlando – 15.5%