Oscar Pareja says Orlando City's "aura is great" as they look to continue their winning run against the Philadelphia Union in MLS on Saturday.

Orlando began the season with a 4-2 defeat to the Union but have since lost just one of their five games (W3 D1). They have won each of their last two, though, including a 2-1 comeback victory over the LA Galaxy last weekend.

They sit seventh in the Eastern Conference, one of four teams on 10 points, but a win at the weekend would move them above their opponents.

Pareja was upbeat following their victory over the Galaxy and says his team will be better prepared to face Philadelphia this time around.

"The aura within the group is great after our great result in LA, and we're enthusiastic about going on the road again and trying to add more points," he told reporters.

"We have that ambition to go and fight for our three points in Philadelphia. That one game just gave us the taste of a new season with a good performance but some individual errors that cost us goals.

"I think we are more solid [than in the first game], and we have purpose. We need to do a better job defensively, especially against teams that are more aggressive, like Philadelphia, but we have been working and improving a lot."

Philadelphia, meanwhile, sit second in the East, just one point behind leaders Inter Miami, though they have played a game more.

After winning their first three games of the season, they have won just one of the last three and head coach Bradley Carnell expects a tough test from Orlando.

"It's a unique situation. You normally face a team on matchday one and matchday 18, not seven," he said.

"Everybody knows what we're trying to do, and I think it's going to be the matchups on the day that make the difference.

"We can acknowledge and see the way the game went in Orlando, but they're coming here with a lot of spirit and energy after turning around a big game on the West Coast, and I'm sure they're going to be energetic, and they'll be a tough opponent."

PLAYERS TO WATCH

Philadelphia Union – Daniel Gazdag

Daniel Gazdag scored against Inter Miami on Saturday, his 51st match with a goal in MLS play (regular season and playoffs), tied with Lucho Acosta for the most matches with a goal in MLS since he made his debut in May 2021.

Orlando City – Martin Ojeda

Martin Ojeda (four), Marco Pasalic (four) and Luis Muriel (three) are the only trio of team-mates with at least three goals this MLS season.

Ojeda has scored in their last three matches. Against the Galaxy last time out, he had the joint-most shots in that game (three) and the highest expected goals tally (0.87 xG).

MATCH PREDICTION: PHILADELPHIA UNION WIN

There have been a total of 27 goals scored in the last five meetings between Philadelphia and Orlando City (average of 5.5 per match), including the Union winning 4-2 in the first meeting between the sides this season on February 22.

Philadelphia have won two of their last three regular-season home matches, including a 1-0 victory over St. Louis City SC on March 22 in their last home match.

The Union have won consecutive home league matches just once since September 2023, doing so against New England Revolution and Nashville SC last July.

Orlando City conceded first against the Galaxy on Saturday but rallied for a 2-1 win. It was the eighth time since the start of the 2023 season that Orlando have recorded a comeback win on the road, more than any other MLS team in that time.

OPTA WIN PROBABILITY

Philadelphia Union – 44%

Draw – 26.8%

Orlando City – 29.2%