It's East meets West as the Philadelphia Union have made the cross country trip to take on LAFC on Saturday night. Kick off from Exploria Stadium is set for 7 p.m. ET and can be viewed on ESPN+.
STARTING XI
Matt Freese; Matt Real, Stuart Findlay, Jack Elliott, Olivier Mbaizo; Leon Flach, Jack McGlynn, Quinn Sullivan, Daniel Gazdag, Paxten Aaronson; Cory Burke.
BENCH: Joe Bendik; Kai Wagner, Jakob Glesnes, Jose Martinez, Alejandro Bedoya, Sergio Santos, Julian Carranza.
NOTES
- Head Coach Jim Curtin makes seven changes to the Starting XI from the club's road contest at LAFC.
- Homegrown Matt Freese makes his 2022 Union debut with the start in goal. The start is his second in Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup play, going 120 minutes in net against D.C. United back in 2019.
- Four players get their first start for the Union in 2022 with Stuart Findlay, Matt Real, Jack McGlynn and Paxten Aaronson on the pitch from the opening whistle.
- Five homegrowns for the Boys in Blue are in the Starting XI (Freese, Real, McGlynn, Sullivan, Aaronson), the most homegrowns to start for the club in 2022.
- Forward Cory Burke makes his sixth start in U.S. Open Cup play. Burke scored a brace in the 2018 Semifinal against the Chicago Fire and also netted a goal against the New York Red Bulls that same tournament.
- Center back Jack Elliott is handed the captain's armband as he makes his sixth start for the Union in the Open Cup. Elliott has one a goal and an assist for the team during the tournament, scoring against the Richmond Kickers in 2018.
