North Charlotte Today

Charlotte FC will face Orlando City in a crucial match as the season approaches its final stretch. The game is scheduled for Wednesday, September 18, at Inter & Co Stadium in Orlando, FL, with kickoff set for 8:15 p.m. ET. The match will be broadcast on FS1 and MLS Season Pass on Apple TV, and can be listened to on WFNZ 92.7 FM (English) and WOLS 106.1 FM (Spanish).

Under the leadership of Dean Smith, Charlotte FC has shown significant improvement in securing points during away matches. Despite starting the season with a draw against the Vancouver Whitecaps followed by four consecutive road losses, Charlotte has only lost three of their nine away matches since mid-May. Their most notable performances came just before the Leagues Cup.

"Before the break, we had three of the toughest games you can get – Cincinnati, Miami previous to that, and then it was Columbus and Austin away, and we came through those three away games unbeaten with 5 points and probably should have been more," Smith said.

Charlotte is now two points shy of equaling their entire away record from last season with three more road games left to play. Facing Orlando at Inter & Co Stadium presents a challenge, but Charlotte has previously won there once this season.

At the start of the season in February, Orlando City were seen as MLS Cup favorites but struggled initially with no wins in their first four matches. As the season progressed, they regained form and have won six of their last eight matches.

Head Coach Óscar Pareja's squad has been bolstered by Designated Player winger Facundo Torres' contributions of three goals in their last two outings. Striker Duncan McGuire has scored eight goals while attacking midfielder Martín Ojeda has tallied ten goal contributions this season.

Orlando has secured 11 wins this season; however, nine of these victories were against teams outside the playoff picture. Their record against other Eastern Conference playoff contenders includes no wins, four draws, and five losses with a goal differential of -11.

Despite a poor recent run of form, Charlotte FC remains in a strong position to achieve their goal of finishing high enough to host an MLS playoff game. Head Coach Dean Smith’s team is currently in seventh place in the Eastern Conference after 28 out of 34 regular-season matches.

This summer saw Charlotte go on an impressive road run defeating FC Cincinnati 3-1, drawing Columbus Crew 1-1, and drawing Austin FC 2-2 within eight days. Following a brief Leagues Cup run where they beat Cruz Azul but were eliminated in the group stage, they went winless in their last three matches including a draw with Red Bulls and losses to Atlanta United and CF Montreal.

The upcoming match against Orlando City is crucial for Charlotte as they aim to regain form on the road against The Lions.