Philadelphia Union vs. New England Revolution | 2018 MLS Match Preview

Dylan Butler

Philadelphia Union vs. New England Revolution
2018 MLS Regular Season — Week 26
Talen Energy Stadium — Chester
August 25 - 7 pm ET
WATCH: ESPN+, MLS LIVE on DAZN (Canada)

For the second time in three weeks, Eastern Conference foes Philadelphia Union and New England Revolution meet, with the scene shifting from Gillette Stadium to Talen Energy Stadium.

The Union, who are coming off a 2-0 victory over New York City FC, are seeking a clean sweep of the three-game regular season series, while the Revolution, who fell to D.C. United, 2-0, on Sunday are trying to snap a seven-match winless streak that has seen them plummet below the playoff line.

The Union opened the 2018 season with a 2-0 win over nine-man New England and pulled out a 3-2 victory in Foxborough on August 11.

Philadelphia Union

Even without suspended Fafa Picault, Philadelphia (10-11-3) defeated NYCFC, 2-0, Saturday night at home for the Union's most impressive win of the season.

After an even first half, Borek Dockal controlled the midfield and set up goals by Cory Burke and Ilsinho, while Auston Trusty anchored a backline that kept one of the league’s most lethal attacks silent.

“We knew that this game would be against the strongest opponent we played in quite some time,” coach Jim Curtin said. “It would be a real challenge for us to raise our intensity, raise our focus, our discipline, our pressing. I thought that the guys executed exactly what we asked of them.”

Suspended: None
Suspended after next caution: None
International duty: None
Injury Report: OUT: M - Anthony Fontana (right hamstring injury); QUESTIONABLE: D - Mark McKenzie (left knee sprain)

Projected Starting XI
(4-3-3, right to left)
GK: Andre Blake — Keegan Rosenberry, Jack Elliott, Auston Trusty, Raymon Gaddis — Alejandro Bedoya, Borek Dockal, Haris Medunjanin — CJ Sapong, Cory Burke, Fafa Picault

New England Revolution

New England (7-9-8) continued to struggle, suffering a fifth defeat in their last six games in a 2-0 loss at D.C. United on Sunday.

A week after scoring a hat trick, Luciano Acosta opened the scoring in the 13th minute, and Zoltan Stieber added the 89th-minute insurance goal, coming 16 minutes after Scott Caldwell was sent off for his second bookable offense.

“It’s really important that we win against Philadelphia this weekend. We should have got a result against them here a couple of weeks ago,” coach Brad Friedel said. “I feel, all the player feel and the staff feels that we should get a result when we go there this weekend. … Like I told the players this morning, we have 10 Cup finals.”

Suspended: M - Scott Caldwell
Suspended after next caution: None
International duty: None
Injury Report: OUT: D - Chris Tierney (torn right ACL)

Projected Starting XI
(4-4-2, right to left)
GK: Matt Turner — Andrew Farrell, Antonio Delamea, Michael Mancienne, Brandon Bye — Juan Agudelo, Luis Caicedo, Wilfried Zahibo, Cristian Penilla — Teal Bunbury, Diego Fagundez

All-Time Series

Overall: Philadelphia Union 12 wins, 39 goals … New England Revolution 6 wins, 29 goals … 4 draws
At Philadelphia: Union 7 wins, 22 goals … Revolution 3 wins, 14 goals … 2 draws
Last meeting at Philadelphia: Philadelphia Union 2, New England Revolution 0 (March 3, 2018)