Gotham FC vs Orlando Pride preview: Trying to get back on track | OneFootball

One win in three games has been a less-than-ideal start for NJ/NY Gotham FC, especially with two of those games being at home. They will welcome the Orlando Pride to Sports Illustrated Stadium on Sunday night, closing out what has been the busiest week in the NWSL for a number of years.

For Gotham, a draw with the North Carolina Courage and a loss to Denver Summit FC sees the defending champions with just four points from their opening three games. It's not uncommon for the NJ/NY team to get off to slow starts, especially under head coach Juan Carlos Amorós, with the team not having won more than once in their first three games in a season since his inaugural season at the club in 2023.

It has been a similarly frustrating start for Orlando, who are coming off their first win of the season against Chicago Stars FC on Wednesday. The visitors lost at home to Seattle Reign FC on the opening weekend before drawing to Denver in week two. While this is a different Pride team from the one that dominated the league in 2024, there is still plenty of talent on this roster, and they are capable of beating anyone on any given day.

Results have been all over the place so far this season for pretty much every team, with no real pattern or level of consistency being set just yet. This means, despite the slow start, Gotham is still very much involved and not far off from the top of the table. A win on Sunday would see them jump up to near the top of the table. Here is a preview of the upcoming match.

Gotham FC vs Orlando Pride preview

Date

The game will be played on Sunday, March 29.

Time

The match is scheduled to begin at 7:00 PM ET.

Location

The game will be played at Sports Illustrated Stadium in Harrison, New Jersey.

How to watch

The fixture will be streamed on Victory+.

Weather

Temperatures will be in the low 50s throughout the 90 minutes with winds around 10-15 mph with gusts up to 25 mph. Humidity will be around 30-35% with a 0% chance of rain. Sunset is set for 7:18 PM.

Injury report

Bruninha (hamstring), Mandy Freeman (lower leg), Jaedyn Shaw (hamstring), and Taryn Torres (SEI- knee) remain unavailable for the Bats.

While Guro Reiten is not listed on the injury report, the expectation is that she will not be involved in Sunday's match as she and the club are still working through her visa issues.

Players to watch

Gotham's only goal of the season came on opening weekend from Esther González, and the Bats will need her to start scoring if they want to get back on track. With her not starting on Wednesday, the expectation is that she will get the start on Sunday and hopefully play a big role in a Gotham victory, making her the one to watch.

Fans should pay attention to Orlando's Barbra Banda, who looks to be back to her best. After a slower season in 2025 by her standards, which also saw her miss the last 10 regular-season games and the entirety of the playoffs with an injury, she has scored in all three of Orlando's games to begin 2026. Some of the Pride's struggles at times last season could be attributed to Banda not being at her best or even being available at all, so having her back and healthy could be the key to winning another championship for Orlando.

Both teams have been a little all over the place to begin 2025, which makes predicting this game a little difficult. The prediction is a 1-0 win for the home team, with González picking up the goal. As mentioned, this game could go any which way with how this season has gone for both sides, but with Gotham FC having the recent historical edge in this matchup, winning three of the last four matches, they have the edge.