Derby of Florida.
There are a few new faces in town since the last time Orlando City saw Inter Miami back on June 25. Former Arsenal left back Kieran Gibbs made his way across the pond on a free transfer on July 1 and has locked up a starting role, while Nick Marsman has taken over for John McCarthy between the pipes after two years with one of the Netherlands’ top sides. Savannah, Georgia native Indiana Vassilev arrived on July 7 on a season-long loan from Premier League side Aston Villa and has appeared twice off the bench.

After a brutal six-game losing streak that included a home loss to Orlando City on June 25 and a 5-0 humbling at the hands of Supporters’ Shield frontrunners New England, there have been signs of life among Phil Neville’s beleaguered Miami outfit. First they battled Philadelphia to a 1-1 draw last Sunday, then topped that by picking up their first win since May 16 with a 2-1 victory over CF Montreal on Saturday. Gonzalo Higuaín has scored five of Miami’s last six goals going back to that May 16 game, a 3-2 win over Cincinnati.

The two Florida sides have traded wins since starting their rivalry on July 8 of last season in the MLS is Back Tournament opener. Orlando will hope to break that streak, as they were the winning team in the last meeting, a come-from-behind 2-1 win on June 25 that saw Nani assist Chris Mueller’s equalizer and score a dramatic winner from outside the box.

While the winner has changed, two other things have been true about every single Orlando-Miami game so far: both teams have scored in all five contests, and every matchup between the two sides has been decided by exactly one goal. Same is expected tonigt so I can see Orlando winning 2-1 or 3-2 in an exciting duel.