Orlando-Vancouver preview

Orlando City SC has not scored in three MLS games, has not posted a road victory in seven games and will be without one of its top weapons Saturday, when the Lions head to BC Place in Vancouver, B.C., to take on the Vancouver Whitecaps.

Orlando City(4-5-9) hasn't found the net in MLS play since a 3-2 win over Toronto on June 25. The Lions scored in each of their first 13 matches of the season.

Orlando City playmaking midfielder Kaka will miss Saturday's game with a groin injury, and the Lions also are in the midst of a coaching transition. Coach Adrian Heath was fired July 6. Assistant Bobby Murphy has taken over on an interim basis. Orlando City is coming off a 2-0 road loss against the New York Red Bulls.

"Not a lot of teams are going through what we're going through," Orlando City leading goal-scorer Cyle Larin told the club's website. "But I think we just got to come together as a team and grind it out and go into these games and hopefully get a point or three, and that's the only way you can come out of it."

While the Lions will be shorthanded, Vancouver (8-8-4) has refreshed its roster, just in time for a busy stretch. The Whitecaps added defenders David Edgar and Marcel de Jong on Monday and are coming off a 2-0 win over Real Salt Lake on Thursday.

Saturday's game will be the Whitecaps' third game in the last seven days. They are on a four-game unbeaten streak to climb into sixth place on the Western Conference table with 28 points.

"We're still looking to play our best soccer," defenseman Jordan Harvey told reporters Thursday. "I still feel like we haven't reached our potential. Building on this last game, hopefully we can start to build some momentum and carry that into the playoffs."

Despite Orlando City's struggles, the Lions sit in eighth place on the Eastern Conference standings and are within of one point sixth-place New England.

This is Orlando City's first visit to Vancouver. The teams met last season with Vancouver winning 1-0 in Orlando.