Orlando City (10-6-8, 38 pts) takes to the national stage this weekend, starting a three-game road trip with a Sunday afternoon tilt against Philadelphia Union (8-7-8, 32 pts). The match, set to kick off at 4:00 p.m. ET, will be televised nationally on ESPN and ESPN Deportes. Radio coverage will be available from 3:30 p.m. ET on Real Radio 104.1 FM in English and Acción 97.9 FM and 810 AM in Spanish.
Here’s everything you need to know about Philadelphia:
Key Transactions and Player News
Key Additions - CF Matheus Davó (Corinthians, loan), CM Jesús Bueno (Deportivo Lara), CM Leon Flach (FC St. Pauli), AM Daniel Gazdag (Budapest Honvéd FC), CB Stuart Findlay (Kilmarnock), RB Alvas Powell (Al-Hilal)
Key Departures - AM Brendan Aaronson (Red Bull Salzburg), CB Mark McKenzie (Genk), RB Ray Gaddis (retirement), Jack de Vries (Venezia FC, loan), GK Greg Ranjitsingh (MLS pool)
Player News - Philadelphia has been wanting for goals through a rough patch in their season. Not a single player on the Union has scored more than one goal since the beginning of August. Starting striker Kacper Przybylko hasn’t netted since July 25 and the team as a whole hasn’t recorded a non-own goal since Quinn Sullivan’s late equalizer against CF Montréal on August 21.
Take a look at the Union’s full roster here.
Team Form
The Union have slumped throughout the summer, looking far from the team that took home the Supporters’ Shield last year. Philadelphia is just 3-5-4 in the league since the beginning of July, including a 2-1 loss against Orlando City on July 22. The Union were also knocked out of the CONCACAF Champions League in the semifinals, falling 4-0 on aggregate across two legs to Mexican giants Club América.
Head-to-Head
Orlando and Philadelphia are deadlocked in the all-time series, with both teams holding a 4-4-5 record. Orlando City will be making their first trip to Subaru Park since July 7, 2019, when Dom Dwyer and Santiago Patiño found the net for the Lions in a 2-2 draw. That game was actually supposed to be played the previous evening, but heavy rains forced a postponement to the following afternoon.
Rasmussen University Fact
As of this writing, Philadelphia is sitting a point below the playoff line in the Eastern Conference. Oddly enough, this isn’t super rare for Supporters’ Shield winners – FC Dallas (2017) and Toronto FC (2018) are recent teams to miss the playoffs the year after securing the league’s best record. The last Supporters’ Shield winners to win even a single playoff game the following season was the 2015 Seattle Sounders.
