STARTING XI | Tonight's road lineup vs. Orlando City SC

TONIGHT, IT'S A 4-1-4-1

LAST REGULAR-SEASON MEETING

The two sides met once during the 2020 regular-season, when the Crew traveled to Orlando on November 4. Orlando City opened the scoring in the 27th minute through Chris Mueller. After Orlando midfielder Nani was shown a red card in the 52nd minute, Crew defender Harrison Afful equalized the match in the 56th minute, with midfielder Pedro Santos being credited with the assist on the goal. Orlando took the lead in the 84th minute through Benji Michel and held on for a 2-1 win. 

ZELARAYAN: LEAGUE-LEADER

With his free kick in the 45th minute of the match against FC Cincinnati on August 27, Lucas Zelarayan brought his total to five free-kick tallies in 2021 regular season action, which ties him with Sebastian Giovinco for second-most free-kick goals in a single MLS regular-season since 2003*. Zelarayan is also tied with four other players with six for most free-kick goals in MLS since 2003, behind only Giovinco (14).

AFFUL: A WORKHOUSE VS. ORLANDO CITY SC

Defender Harrison Afful leads the Black & Gold with most appearances and starts (nine) all-time against Orlando. He has tallied one goal against Orlando, which was netted in last year’s lone matchup between the sides (November 4, 2020).

CREW COMES BACK TO WIN MATCH AFTER TRAILING AT 75TH MINUTE MARK FOR SECOND TIME THIS SEASON 

Friday's match against FC Cincinnati marked the second time this season the Black & Gold have trailed after 75 minutes and have come back to win the match. The Club previously came back from being down 1-0 on the road at New York City FC (May 22) through Lucas Zelarayan, who scored in the 82nd minute and the fifth minute of second-half stoppage-time to give the Crew a 2-1 win. The Black & Gold are the only team in MLS to accomplish this feat twice this season in regular-season action. 

NAGBE AND HAIRSTON: PASS MASTERS 

Through 22 matches in the 2021 MLS regular season, midfielders Darlington Nagbe and Marlon Hairston are among the League leaders in passing accuracy among players who have attempted 100 or more passes. Nagbe has made 21 starts while completing 1017 of his 1064 attempted passes for a passing accuracy percentage of 95.71%, while Hairston has made 10 appearances and completed 351 of his 373 attempted passes for a passing accuracy percentage of 94.1%.