Since Bruce Arena joined the Revs, New England and Philly have been two of the best teams in Major League Soccer. In that span, both clubs have sold top prospects to Europe and, with Adam Buksa leaving and Giacomo Vrioni purchased from Juventus, the Union and Revs have now both turned over their top striker from a year ago.
In Buksa’s absence, Gustavo Bou has been thriving as a lone striker for Arena’s side. Since May 1, Bou has six goals, though his Expected Goals number sits at a far lower 3.50 according to American Soccer Analysis. Philly’s Daniel Gazdag and Julian Carranza have four goals each in that timespan, though both are over four xG.
With Bou leading the line recently, the Revs extended an unbeaten run from April 30 to July 3 before finally falling to New York City FC last weekend. Similar to the Union, though, New England secured more draws than wins in that span.
Philly spent the last week breaking out of the draw doldrums. First through an explosive win over DC United and then with a scrappy victory in Miami. As Ale Bedoya put it after the match, they “got that crucial second goal that [they’ve] been lacking at times this season.”
Jim Curtin also got a stellar defensive performance out of Leon Flach, who seems to cover three defensive positions on every defensive transition. Flach, Jose Martinez, Bedoya, and Daniel Gazdag have been such a stellar midfield diamond that top talents like Quinn Sullivan, Paxten Aaronson, and Jack McGlynn have yet to fully stamp their imprint on the 2022 season.
Those talented homegrowns will be sniffing around starts this weekend as the Union finish a busy three-match week. Along with Brandan Craig, who recently collected his first MLS minutes, the Union’s U20s are a positionally flexible group and Curtin could keep his 4-4-2 diamond or flip to a 4-2-3-1 to accommodate the personnel he wants to rest and the young players he wants to see take a greater share of Saturday’s minutes.
Another player Philly will look to for a big match is defender Stuart Findlay. Stepping in for Defender of the Year candidate Jack Elliott, Findlay will be looking to impress the Subaru Park faithful in what Jim Curtin hinted could be one of his final matches in the blue and gold.
Philly takes on last year’s Supporters’ Shield Winners at 7:30p.m. ET on July 16 at Subaru Park with the match presented by Socios.com. TIckets are available here, or watch the match on PHL17.
