Though Orlando City will have the advantage of playing at home in Friday’s game against Atlanta United, the Five Stripes will have the advantage of not having to try to stop Cyle Larin.
Larin, Orlando City’s leading scorer with eight goals this season, was called into the Canadian national team on Sunday for the knockout rounds of the Gold Cup. Canada will play Jamaica on Thursday.
“Cyle Larin is a great forward,” Atlanta United’s Julian Gressel said. “He can score at any moment at any time in any game. It’s pretty a big point that they don’t have him.”
With a combination of size and speed, Larin has become one of the best forwards in MLS since being selected by Orlando with the top pick in the 2015 MLS SuperDraft. He has 39 goals in 76 games.
He was being linked to potential moves to clubs in Europe before being arrested for DUI on June 15 in Orlando. He served a three-game suspension during which Orlando went 0-1-2 and returned to start the next two games in which his team went 1-1-0.
Larin started the season with six goals in Orlando City’s first seven games. The team went 6-1-0 in that stretch. He has scored just two goals since and Orlando City has won twice. The team is 6-2-3 at home this season.
Orlando City (8-7-5) will instead rely on Carlos Rivas (4 goals) and Kaka (3 goals).
“It’s an advantage for us because he’s a really good forward,” Atlanta United’s Leandro Gonzalez Pirez said. “He’s a good player and really physical. At the same time, we are going to have to approach the game with the same amount of attention that we always do and make sure we are making their other players.”
Atlanta United will host Orlando City at Georgia Tech’s Bobby Dodd Stadium on July 29, which is when they may get their first shot at stopping Larin.
Atlanta United’s defense has had mixed performances against the league’s leading scorers this season. The team held Chicago’s Nemanja Nikolic, who leads MLS with 16 goals, to one goal in two meetings. It came on a penalty kick. David Villa scored one of his 12 goals this season in two meetings against Atlanta United. Houston’s Erick Torres scored one goal in one game against Atlanta United, but it came on a penalty kick. Chicago’s David Accam, who has 10 goals, didn’t score in either game against Atlanta United.
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