Santos Laguna vs Orlando City SC Prediction (29.07.2023)

While Liga MX and Major League Soccer are away, Leagues Cup will play. The very best from Mexico and the United States are battling it out in an electric tournament this summer as we attempt to determine who the best club in North America is. Today, we’ll be taking a look at a clash between Santos Laguna and Orlando City.

Last season’s Apertura went phenomenally well for Santos Laguna as they finished in third, with just Club America and Monterrey ahead of them. Unfortunately, the good times didn’t last, as they let themselves down in the Clausura in a big way by finishing 13th. Hopefully, for their sake, they can start to rediscover that killer instinct which first put them on the map.

Santos Laguna were involved in a really intense opening game to kickstart their Leagues Cup campaign, as they played out a 2-2 draw with Houston Dynamo. Unfortunately, they couldn’t see it through in the shootout, losing 5-4 to the MLS side.

Despite having one of the most passionate fanbases in Major League Soccer, Orlando City continues to fall short when living up to what is their perceived potential. The boys in purple always seem to attract a lot of attention and this season, they’re turning quite a few heads, probably because they’ve only lost six of their 23 league games up to this point in the campaign. Bravo to them.

Orlando experienced the same kind of fate when locking horns with Houston as the game ended in a 1-1 draw. The eventual penalty shootout was as tight and tense as you’d expect, with Orlando coming out on top 5-4.

Neither of these teams are afraid to get creative which is what makes this match-up such an exciting prospect. There’s real deep-rooted potential in both of their campaigns and although we do think Orlando will edge it, our main prediction is over 2.5 goals scored.