Thomas Muller has denied saying the Vancouver Whitecaps have a "loser mentality" and hopes a successful end to the season could help the team enjoy similar popularity in the city to the NHL's Vancouver Canucks.

The Whitecaps, who sealed a high-profile move for Muller midway through the season after he left Bayern Munich as a free agent, are second in the Western Conference.

They are level on points with leaders San Diego FC, with Saturday's trip to Orlando City representing a game in hand.

Should the Whitecaps win in Florida, they will approach their regular-season finale against FC Dallas as favourites to be the West's top seed in the MLS Cup Playoffs.

But before the Whitecaps won the Canadian Championship with a 4-2 final victory over Vancouver FC last week, Muller suggested the team's fans did not demand success.

Asked to clarify those comments on Thursday, Muller told reporters: "You talked about it, or you wrote it. I didn't talk about a loser mentality.

"I said they accept not winning. That's way different. You make the headlines, it's very nice.

"It's not about the teams; it's more the people of Vancouver. They maybe accept that the Canucks don't do well sometimes, or the Whitecaps. That's what I'm mentioning."

The Whitecaps have not been beyond the first round of the playoffs since 2017 and have never made the Western Conference finals, and Muller thinks that needs to change to heighten the club's profile.

"Who should be the second team in the city? We play in the highest league in our sport, and we are doing really well this season, so it should be the Whitecaps," he said.

"That's what I was mentioning and that's what I want to change – to make people more interested in the Whitecaps as well.

"The next two games have nothing to do with our playoff run, but we want to keep our seed or get the top seed, and game by game, you want to get the [winning] habit in."

Orlando are certain of a postseason place, but Oscar Pareja's team know a victory this week would pull them four points clear of the eighth-placed Chicago Fire and ensure they cannot drop into the play-in spots.

The Lions drew 1-1 with the Columbus Crew last time out but have several players on international duty this week, while the 'Caps are coming off a 4-1 rout of the San Jose Earthquakes.

PLAYERS TO WATCH

Orlando City – Martin Ojeda

Ojeda (16 goals) and Marco Pasalic (12) have netted 28 MLS goals between them during the 2025 regular season. That is the most by any pair of Orlando players in a single year, surpassing the 27 combined goals by Facundo Torres and Duncan McGuire in 2023. 

Pasalic struck the Lions' equaliser against Columbus last week but is on international duty with Croatia this week, leaving Ojeda to carry the attacking burden.

Vancouver Whitecaps – Sebastian Berhalter

Berhalter recorded his team-high 11th assist of the season last time out versus San Jose.

That is the fourth-most assists ever managed by a Whitecaps player in a single campaign, with only Ryan Gauld (15 in 2024, 12 in 2023) and Pedro Morales (12 in 2014) having more.

MATCH PREDICTION – ORLANDO CITY WIN

Vancouver have avoided defeat in four of their previous five meetings with Orlando (W3 D1), though the teams have not faced off since a 1-0 win for the Lions in April 2019. 

Orlando have not scored multiple goals in any of their three home matches against the Whitecaps, though they have in both of the teams' meetings in Canada.

The Whitecaps' 4-1 win over San Jose last week marked the fifth time they have scored two or more goals in their last six matches in MLS.

Vancouver have recorded 18 multi-goal regular-season games in 2025, their second most in a single MLS regular season, after achieving 20 in 2018.

Entertainment should be on offer, then, as Orlando scored their 60th goal of the regular season last time out, bettering their previous regular-season MLS record of 59 from last year.

Their 119 goals since the start of 2024 are tied for the fourth-most in MLS, and with eight wins and four losses at home this year (four draws), they are slight favourites.  

OPTA WIN PROBABILITY

Orlando City – 42%

Vancouver Whitecaps – 31.3%

Draw – 26.7%