Let’s see… any good reasons to watch Philadelphia Union take on LA Galaxy Saturday night… any 6’5” reasons with almost 400 career goals… nope, drawing a blank.
Oh right, there is that Swedish fella.
Like Zorro, but if he only fought for himself
Zlatan Ibrahimovic skipped the Galaxy’s trip to New England last weekend with a bout of age-related oldness. That means he will almost certainly be in the eleven to face the Union when LA travels to Philly for Saturday’s showdown., and the big question is how to fit all the other attacking talent around him.
That talent consists of winger/attacking mid Romain Alessandrini, winger/attacking mid Gio Dos Santos, Chris Pontius, Ema Boateng, Ola Kamara, and Jonathan Dos Santos. Of the group, Alessandrini and Kamara have developed the best relationships with Ibra this season, but the heights a Zlatan-Gio hookup could reach are likely far above what any other duo could offer. But again: where does everyone fit?
Goals galore
Since a 1-0 victory over San Jose Earthquakes in late May, here is how many combined goals have been scored in the Galaxy’s MLS matchups prior to their game against the Union:
5
2
3
6
4
4
5
So yeah, it’s pretty likely there will be fireworks on the field in the first regular season match in Talen Energy Stadium since the official fireworks night against Atlanta.
Playoff positioning
When the Union play Los Angeles, New England will be at Red Bull Arena, and two hours after those matches end Montreal will step onto the pitch at Portland. The Red Bulls and Timbers have combined for one home loss all season, and if the Revs and Impact lose while the Union win, Philly will be even on points with Montreal and only one behind New England (note: if the Union are even with a team in points in the standings, the first tiebreaker for playoff position is number of wins). With two games against the Revolution in August, Philly will be in prime position to make a run up the standings if they can knock off the Galaxy for the second time in team history.
