Philadelphia Union are back at Subaru Park Saturday night as they host Seattle Sounders FC for U-Serve Night presented by Bimbo Bakeries USA. Don't miss this East vs. West clash with the action on MLS Season Pass on Apple TV.
The Union's home match will be their fourth of 2024 but second in league play as the club continues to navigate both MLS and Concacaf Champions Cup where the Boys in Blue are in the Round of 16. Philadelphia are unbeaten in both league and Concacaf play, recording four straight draws after their opening win against Saprissa. Saturday’s matchup will be another test of the team’s fitness, as their schedule has been a demanding one, with a brief turnaround to the away leg of their Round of 16 matchup against Pachuca on Tuesday.
Meanwhile the Sounders are just two games into their 50th anniversary season, first falling 2-1 to LAFC, then finishing in a draw against Austin FC at Lumen Field. The Union, on the other hand, are well into their 15th season, having played five games before their opponent made the coast to coast trip.
Favorably for Philly, however, the Sounders won’t be full strength – last week, seven of their players were listed out on the availability report, and since then, the team announced their marquee offseason addition in 23-year-old winger Pedro de la Vega would be out for 6-8 weeks with a hamstring injury. Though some players absent from their match against Austin could return in time for the match, Head Coach Brian Schmetzer announced with certainty that goalkeeper Stefan Frei and midfielders Albert Rusnák and João Paulo will not play. Without Frei, 25-year-old Andrew Thomas will start in net for just the third time in MLS play.
As for Philadelphia Union, it’s likely they’ll have the most complete availability list since their first match, with Andre Blake fully returned from injury and confident after holding Pachuca to a shutout earlier in the week. The only questionable player is Julian Carranza who’s missed the past two matches due to injury precaution. Otherwise, the rest of the group is expected to be available, though Curtin’s gameplan could be impacted by the number of minutes the group has played as of late, plus the fast-approaching challenge to come in Mexico City.
It's been quite awhile since Union fans have seen Seattle at Subaru Park with their most recent league contest coming way back in May 2019. On that date nearly five years ago neither side could find the back of the net and it finished in a scoreless draw. The series has been close in the all-time series with the Union owning a narrow 5-4-4 advantage.
