Orlando Pride vs. San Diego Wave FC live stream, schedule, preview: Watch NWSL online

To get the ball rolling in Week 5 of the NWSL, Orlando Pride returns to the confines of their home in Central Florida for an encounter with Casey Stoney's San Diego Wave. It'll be the fourth time in the first five weeks that Seb Hines' crew has competed on a Friday evening.

Historically, these two outfits have only met on four occasions, all of which were in the regular season. The set-piece connection between Kyra Carusa and Makenzy Doniak gave SD the narrow triumph in Florida last August, but prior to that the Pride were unbeaten in the first three meetings. Hines' team earned its first victory of last year's campaign on the Wave's home soil, shocking the Southern California side after dropping four of its first five fixtures across all competitions. Adriana, the 27-year-old Brazilian was exceptional over the course of those 90 minutes going forward, leading her team in total shots and successful dribbles.

Shifting our focus to this year, Orlando recently officially introduced its new striker Barbra Banda just a few days ago after picking up its first three points of the season last week. Marta's influence as a second-half substitute was enough to best a Utah Royals FC side that struggled all night to create clear-cut opportunities in the final third. Even at 38 years old the Brazilian has been critical to the Pride's positive start, netting a team-high two goals, one to earn a point, the other to clinch three. Her load, specifically in the goal-scoring department is going to be eased quite a bit with the confirmation of the Zambian international.

Banda received one special welcome at the Orlando International Airport as the club hopes she can deliver the kind of goal-scoring success we've seen from her at the club level in Europe and Asia. The 24-year-old was involved in 21 goals for Shanghai Shengli last season in the Chinese top flight. The last time Orlando had someone eclipse the 18-goal contribution mark in a league campaign was in 2017 when Marta did it.

Defensively, both sides have been extremely sound so far. Only the North Carolina Courage have a better expected goals conceded from open play than Orlando and San Diego. As of the time of writing, Naomi Girma is still questionable to return to the pitch this week, meaning we'll likely see Stanford product Kennedy Wesley slot alongside Abby Dahlkemper in the middle of a back four. The 2024 NWSL first-round selection fit right in, completing 87 percent of her passes in a scoreless draw in Kentucky.

Neither outfit has particularly found its stride on the offensive side, especially the Wave. Orlando and SD have combined to score just two goals from open play this season per Opta. Stoney's team is in fact in the bottom five when it comes to xG per 90 minutes through its first three fixtures. Even with an incredible amount of firepower, patience may be the key. Savannah McCaskill is new to SD. Add in the fact that the other three first-choice attackers have been in and out to attend to national team duties. Sofia Jakobsson was on one last week on the left flank, but none of it turned into a product on the scoresheet.

Elyse Bennett is someone to watch coming off the bench for the Wave on Friday. She is a physical forward with a few campaigns of experience finding the back of the net in this league. So far, the 24-year-old has only played in 24 minutes in league play, but with the attack being as it is right now, the Florida State product could be asked to come on much earlier.

How to watch Orlando Pride vs. San Diego Wave in the NWSL regular season

• Date: Friday, April 19
• Start Time: 8:00 p.m. ET
• Location: Inter & Co Stadium (Orlando, Florida)
• TV info/Live Stream: Amazon Prime Video

Prediction: Orlando Pride 1-1 San Diego Wave