Oscar Pareja said allowing his Orlando City players to rest after their exit from the Leagues Cup was crucial ahead of resuming their MLS season against Sporting Kansas City this weekend.

The Lions were knocked out by Cruz Azul in the last 32 of the competition, losing in a penalty shootout at the Inter&Co Stadium following a goalless draw in normal time.

They return to league action having gone into the break five games unbeaten, sitting seventh in the Eastern Conference table heading into the final fixtures of the campaign.  

And Pareja is confident that their two-week break will have his side fit and firing for the business end of the season.

“We definitely have put in two weeks of hard work, but at the beginning of the first week we tried to rest a couple of our players,” Pareja said.

“After the amount of games we had, it was healthy for us to recover some of our players and then the rest of the time we have dedicated our time to recovering for our next games.”

Kansas City were also knocked out of the Leagues Cup at the last 32 stage, comfortably beaten by Columbus Crew, who play Los Angeles FC in the showpiece match this weekend.

They resume their league season sitting in 12th place in the Western Conference table, triumphing in two of their final four fixtures (D1 L1) before the break and closing the gap to FC Dallas.

Despite their heavy defeat in the Leagues Cup to the Crew, head coach Peter Vermes was able to pinpoint areas in which his side could improve upon their MLS return.

“I thought we did a really good job,” Vermes said of the team’s first period. “I thought tactically and work ethic-wise, we were very good.

"We didn’t provide them with a lot of options to play. A lot of balls went wide, and we forced them backward. I thought we did a great job of that.”

“We over-committed to one side, especially in our midfield,” Vermes said. “We didn’t have any pressure on the ball, and it was an easy run in behind us.”

PLAYERS TO WATCH

Kansas City – Willy Agada

Kansas’ leading marksman, Willy Agada, has five goals in his last seven appearances in all competitions, and he will be key to breaking Orlando’s winning run.

His strike against St. Louis City last time out was his 20th goal in the MLS since his move from Hapoel Jerusalem in 2022, reaching that tally in 51 appearances.

Orlando City – Martin Ojeda

Ojeda has contributed to a goal in each of his last six MLS appearances, equalling the longest single-season streak by an Orlando player.

This will be the Argentine’s first appearance against Kansas, and he will be looking to add to his 12 goal involvements in all competitions upon his return to league action.

MATCH PREDICTION: ORLANDO WIN

Orlando have won four of their last five regular season matches before the Leagues Cup break, with no team collecting more points than the Lions’ 13 in July, while they also led the MLS in goals scored (14) and were tied for the fewest conceded (three) last month.

Kansas City has won four of their last five home matches against MLS opposition in all competitions (D1), including a 2-1 win over Chicago in the Leagues Cup last month.

The last six meetings between the two sides have been split with each team winning twice and drawing twice. All four wins in that time were by one-goal margins, so expect a tightly contested affair at Children's Mercy Park.

OPTA WIN PROBABILITY

Kansas City – 33.2%

Draw – 25.6%

Orlando City – 41.2%