Oscar Pareja has admitted Orlando City's lack of goals in recent weeks is a cause for concern as they aim to change that against the Chicago Fire on Wednesday.
The Lions have won two of their last five matches but alternated between hitting the back of the net and failing to score during that run, getting shut out by Columbus Crew on Saturday.
Orlando are currently 10th in the Eastern Conference, two points off the playoffs, and Pareja hopes his side can add a more clinical edge against Chicago to close that gap.
"[Not scoring] is a concern, especially when you don't have the accuracy to cross or to find somebody in the box. Or if somebody is in the box but isn't precise to finish it off," Pareja said.
"The concern in the week is how can we polish them. But we have scored before, and we were collecting some games where the strikers start scoring. It's day by day, but today we need to be worried about it."
Chicago sit second from the bottom with just 11 points after only winning two games this season.
The Fire have failed to win any of their previous eight matches but snapped a four-game losing streak with their 1-1 draw against D.C. United at the weekend.
"It's about consistency now to keep going," Frank Klopas said. "We have the level, we've shown it.
"We've got to do it consistently, but [Saturday] was a step in the right direction with the attitude, the mentality, the fight with the group and playing really good football and creating good chances.
"[One] step at a time, we take it, we regroup, and now we need to come out with even more energy on Wednesday."
PLAYERS TO WATCH
Chicago Fire – Kellyn Acosta
Acosta scored his second goal for the Fire on Saturday, with both coming from outside the box. The American has scored eight goals from outside the box in his regular-season MLS career, with four coming from his right foot and four from his left.
Orlando City – Nicolas Lodeiro
Orlando have scored nine goals on the road this season, with Lodeiro recording assists on five of them. Lodeiro has 38 career regular-season assists on the road, the most among active MLS players and seventh-most in MLS history.
MATCH PREDICTION – ORLANDO CITY WIN
Orlando have won four of their last five meetings with the Fire (one draw), including the last three in a row. Prior to this run, Orlando had won just three of 14 matches against Chicago (five draws, six losses) in all competitions since joining MLS in 2015.
Orlando have also won three of their last four regular-season road games (one draw), including back-to-back wins over the Philadelphia Union and San Jose Earthquakes. This is the Lions' ninth set of consecutive away wins in MLS league play, though they've never won three in a row on the road before.
Meanwhile, Chicago ended a four-match losing streak with a 1-1 draw against D.C. United on Saturday. Still, the Fire have a club record-low 11 points after 15 matches, a total only one team since 2000 has overcome to reach the playoffs: Inter Miami in the extended playoffs of 2020.
OPTA WIN PROBABILITY
Chicago Fire – 32.1%
Draw – 27.9%
Orlando City – 40%
Pulisic says USA were 'flying' against Bolivia after inspirational display
Christian Pulisic felt the United States made a flying start to the Copa America with their impressive victory over Bolivia in Texas.
Milan star Pulisic stole the show with an eye-catching strike into the top corner, and he added an assist for Folarin Balogun as the USA opened their campaign with a 2-0 win on home soil on Sunday.
Pulisic became only the second USA player after Clint Dempsey to register a goal and an assist in a Copa America match, while he is also now the country's quickest player to reach 30 goals, doing so in his 69th game.
An inspired performance from the captain also ended a woeful run for the USA against CONMEBOL sides at this tournament, given Gregg Berhalter's side had previously lost eight of 10 such games.
Pulisic felt that USA could easily have won by a greater margin, with the strong performance making a statement ahead of their next group games against Panama and Uruguay.
"We should build some confidence from this and feel good," Pulisic said after the game.
"We came out flying with a lot of intensity and obviously that early goal helped us a lot.
"It's Copa America, it's a big tournament. I feel like I'm always pretty excited after I score, but it's a big moment, it's a major tournament.
"All around, it was a pretty dominant performance. I think we could have put it away and had more goals there.
"The games are just going to get tougher and tougher as the tournament goes on, so we have got to be ready."
Defender Antonee Robinson also felt USA could easily have won by more.
"If we were being picky, we could have been a lot more clinical," the Fulham player said. "We could have put another two or three goals away, but getting off to a win to start with is massive for us.
"Build the confidence, show we are here to win, here to play and it puts us in good stead for the next game."
USA head coach Berhalter was delighted with the impact made by Pulisic, whose opening strike had an expected goals (xG) tally of just 0.037.
The tournament hosts racked up 20 shots, finding the target with eight, compared to tallies of six and three respectively for Bolivia.
As part of an all-action display, Pulisic created three chances, sent in 10 crosses and superbly completed 21 of the game-high 22 passes he attempted in the final third.
"He is a selfless leader," said Berhalter. "He goes out and competes and works really hard. That helps the team.
"Then you add to the fact that he is highly skilled and can make plays on the offensive end and create chances. It is a great combination, and what you see is him supporting his teammates, him backing guys, him pushing guys.
"To me, it was an outstanding performance. He got coach's man of the match and it was much deserved.
"We will always look at chance creation as a marker of performance, and I think we created enough chances.
"I like the performance for an opening game against a difficult opponent. We are in a good position."
Bolivia, meanwhile, have now lost their last four international outings by a concerning margin of 9-1, having suffered defeats against Mexico, Ecuador, Colombia and USA.
They face Uruguay, who won their opener 3-1 against Panama, on Thursday.
USA will play Panama earlier on the same day before concluding their Group C campaign against Uruguay on July 1.
Bielsa left wanting more despite Uruguay's winning start at Copa America
Marcelo Bielsa insists there is room for improvement for Uruguay, despite kicking off their Copa America campaign with a 3-1 win over Panama in Florida.
Uruguay's win saw them move level on points with hosts the United States following their victory over Bolivia in the other Group C encounter.
The 15-time winners were rewarded for their fast start when Maximilian Araujo curled home his first international goal in the 16th minute.
However, Panama would grow into the contest as Jose Fajardo and Jose Rodriguez squandered golden opportunities for Thomas Christiansen's side.
And their wastefulness was punished late on as Darwin Nunez, who had missed several chances in the game, settled Uruguay's nerves with a calm finish.
Matias Vina furthered La Celeste's advantage in the first minute of injury-time with a header, only for Michael Amir Murillo to net a late consolation for Panama.
However, Bielsa was quick to temper expectations despite the triumph, insisting his side must improve to secure a record 16th Copa America crown.
The 68-year-old took charge of Uruguay in May last year, beating both Argentina and Brazil in World Cup qualifiers.
"When it comes to Uruguay's aspirations, we will see that and build it match by match," he told reporters.
"My expectation is that each match will increasingly help us to improve on our level. Uruguay has players of a very good level and we need to see if I can build with those players."
Uruguay continue their group campaign against Bolivia in New Jersey on Thursday, before facing the USA at the Arrowhead Stadium next Tuesday.
Bielsa left wanting more despite winning start at Copa America
Marcelo Bielsa insists there is room for improvement for Uruguay, despite kicking off their Copa America campaign with a 3-1 win over Panama in Florida.
Uruguay's win saw them move level on points with hosts the United States following their victory over Bolivia in the other Group C encounter.
The 15-time winners were rewarded for their fast start when Maximilian Araujo curled home his first international goal in the 16th minute.
However, Panama would grow into the contest as Jose Fajardo and Jose Rodriguez squandered golden opportunities for Thomas Christiansen's side.
And their wastefulness was punished late on as Darwin Nunez, who had missed several chances in the game, settled Uruguay's nerves with a calm finish.
Matias Vina furthered La Celeste's advantage in the first minute of injury-time with a header, only for Michael Amir Murillo to net a late consolation for Panama.
However, Bielsa was quick to temper expectations despite the triumph, insisting his side must improve to secure a record 16th Copa America crown.
The 68-year-old took charge of Uruguay in May last year, beating both Argentina and Brazil in World Cup qualifiers.
"When it comes to Uruguay's aspirations, we will see that and build it match by match," he told reporters.
"My expectation is that each match will increasingly help us to improve on our level. Uruguay has players of a very good level and we need to see if I can build with those players."
Uruguay continue their group campaign against Bolivia in New Jersey on Thursday, before facing the USA at the Arrowhead Stadium next Tuesday.
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