ORLANDO, Fla. – Orlando City SC is in the middle of another midseason slump, and the situation doesn’t get any easier. On Saturday, the Lions (6-5-1, 19 points) will begin a grueling road trip that includes three Major League Soccer matches and one U.S. Open Cup match.

The task begins with third-place New York City FC (7-3-3, 24 points), a team Orlando City share plenty of history with. In addition to Lions head coach Jason Kreis having coached NYCFC for one season (2015), City also entered MLS in the same season as the weekend opponent.

Already in 2018, NYCFC has won the first of three matches, extending its win streak to two games against Orlando City. On March 17, New York City blanked the Lions 2-0 for their second loss of the season. Overall, though, the Lions have dominated the series with a 5-3-2 all-time record.

Here’s what to expect when Orlando City travel to face NYCFC for the second time this season for a Saturday-night meeting at 7:30 p.m. in Yankee Stadium.

NYCFC Has Improved Defense

New York City has always been one of the league’s best attacking teams, scoring 56 goals in 2017 and a league-leading 62 goals in 2016. In 2018, however, NYCFC has imposed itself as one of the best defensive teams, too.

So far this season, NYC has recorded four clean sheets, including the early-season shutout of Orlando City. The 2015 expansion side won its opener 2-0 over Sporting Kansas City, beat the Lions, blanked Real Salt Lake 4-0 on April 11 and shut out the Colorado Rapids 4-0 on May 19.

In total, NYCFC has allowed 19 goals this season, the sixth-fewest in the East, tied for the 10th-fewest in MLS.

“For me, it’s a team and a club that I think has improved every single year that they’ve been in the league,” Kreis said after training on May 30. “And I think that, you know, now they’re clearly showing they’re one of the elite teams in the league.

“From my point of view, this year, I think they look more balanced than I’ve seen them in the past–with the ability to score on you from all sorts of places and a defense that I think has been pretty solid and very tactically well-disciplined.”

David Villa Leads NYC Attack

Since the club’s inception, NYCFC has relied on Spanish forward David Villa. The 36-year-old has been playing at an elite level since arriving to the Big Apple in 2015, having scored 63 goals from 2015 to 2017.

In each of his MLS seasons, Villa has placed in the league’s top five in goal-scoring, ranking fourth in 2015 and second in 2016 and 2017. So far in 2018, Villa is tied for the second-most goals with four other players with eight goals.

Villa is also one of NYCFC’s best distributors. In four MLS seasons, he has led his team in assists in two: In 2015, he was the sole leader with eight; in 2017, he tied midfielder Maximiliano Moralez with nine. Villa has three assists in 2018, so far.

New York City’s Attack Still Potent

Ever since NYCFC entered MLS, it has been an offensive force to be reckoned with. So far this season, NYC’s 26 goals are tied for the third-most goals in the league behind league leaders Atlanta United FC and the Houston Dynamo and their 27 scores.

Apart from Villa, NYC has two other reliable scorers: Moralez and forward Ismael Tajouri-Shradi. Each of them have, so far, scored five goals each, as Moralez is also second in assists with four.

One of Tajouri-Shradi’s and Moralez’s goals came from the win over Orlando City in the third game of the season for both teams. Tajouri-Shradi scored in the 62nd minute to open the game’s scoring, and Moralez scored in the 74th minute to solidify the win.

“[They] have a very good attack. They have a lot of numbers up top that can be really dangerous,” recently turned center back Tony Rocha said after training on May 30. “Our focus is the players up top, how we can kind of control a game both offensively and defensively.”

For more on the Lions, as they take on their fellow 2015 expansion team, follow Victor Tan on Twitter at @NDR_VictorTan.

To contact Victor, you can email him at vtan@newdayreview.com, or you can tweet at him.