Daniel Gazdag is aiming to lead the New England Revolution to a second-place finish in the Eastern Conference ahead of their Decision Day clash with Orlando City SC.Â
New England were beaten 2-1 by Inter Miami in their penultimate regular-season outing last time out, with Lionel Messi scoring the winning goal in the 83rd minute.Â
It means just two points separate New England and Miami heading into the final match of the season, with the Herons taking on Charlotte FC at Nu Stadium this weekend.Â
This is the first time since 2023 that the Revolution have reached the postseason, while their defeat to Miami came after a four-game winning streak.Â
Gadzag netted his third league goal for New England since joining from the Columbus Crew in September against Miami, but he feels the team are in a strong place heading into the postseason, no matter the result against Orlando.
“We are confident,” Gadzag said. “I think we have had a really good season as a team. We have played some really good, high-quality games throughout the regular season.
“We are confident about the playoffs. We played them [Orlando] a few weeks ago, but it is going to be a different game because we have to go to their stadium.
“Obviously, we would like to get the three points and get the second spot in the table. But Orlando are still fighting for the playoff spots as well, so it will be a hard game.”
Stacking sessions https://t.co/TNwYJX1BE9
— New England Revolution (@NERevolution) November 3, 2026
Orlando themselves are already assured a spot in the playoffs heading into Decision Day, despite being on the end of a 4-0 thrashing in their last match against Charlotte.Â
Henry Kessler had put Charlotte ahead in the sixth minute before Allan Saint-Maximin doubled the Crown’s lead within four minutes of the restart at the Bank of America Stadium.
A late flurry saw Abdoulaye Doucoure and Rodolfo Aloko score either side of Saint-Maximin’s 89th-minute red card, with Charlotte now eyeing a place in the top four of the East.Â
But for Martin Perelman, he was left to rue several mistakes from his Orlando team, adding they must be eradicated once their postseason campaign gets underway.
“Very disappointed with the result. I think the game is opened by a free-kick [that’s] a mistake that we shouldn’t commit when we play this type of game at this stage on the road against these opponents,” Perelman conceded.
“I think at the end of the first half, we hurt them a little bit through the sides, which is what we wanted. I don’t think we did anything in the best way we could, but we tried to adjust for the second half. Other than that, we know that it’s not easy. We know how to see the big picture. We don’t like this result.
“It’s not the way we want, but for sure, as we did in the past, we will recover and prepare for the next one because this team started the season in a really difficult situation, went through very difficult moments and was very resilient, so this is not going to be the exception for us, and we’re going to be ready for the next one.”
PLAYERS TO WATCH
Orlando City SC – Martin Ojeda
Ojeda has scored six goals in seven career regular-season matches against New England, tied for his most goals against a single opponent (Miami) in his MLS career.
The only Orlando player with more regular-season goals against a single team is Cyle Larin (nine against New York City FC).
The 2026 Lions https://t.co/J484yHChU8
— Orlando City SC (@OrlandoCitySC) November 3, 2026
New England Revolution – Carles Gil
With 15 career goal contributions (eight goals, seven assists) in the regular season against Orlando, Gil is tied for the most goal contributions by a player against Orlando with Sebastian Giovinco.
It is also Gil’s most goal contributions in league play against any opponent, and he will be keen to add to his tally at the Inter.co Stadium.
MATCH PREDICTION: ORLANDO CITY SC WIN
New England picked up a 4-2 win against Orlando back in September, their first win in the fixture since a 3-1 home win in June 2023.
The Revolution have never won multiple matches in a single calendar year against Orlando, with their nine wins across all competitions coming in nine different years.
New England have won back-to-back road games for the third time this season, with six wins in their last eight away matches (L2) after just one in their first eight (D2 L5). Their last longer road winning streak across all competitions was a four-match run between April and May 2025.
Orlando, meanwhile, conceded four or more goals for the eighth time this season in last weekend’s 4-0 loss to Charlotte. That tied the MLS record for the most matches conceding at least four goals in a single regular season with New England (2024), FC Cincinnati (2021) and the Colorado Rapids (1997).
OPTA WIN PROBABILITY
Orlando City SC – 43.4%
Draw – 26.8%
New England – 29.8%
