D.C. United vs. Philadelphia Union: Preview, time and how to watch
Tonight, D.C. United welcomes Philadelphia Union to Audi Field as MLS begins its return to regularly scheduled play following the conclusion of the Leagues Cup.
The pair met earlier this month in a Round of 32 matchup that saw the Union end D.C.’s Leagues Cup run via penalty shootout (5-4). Philadelphia then went on to claim third place in the tournament after being knocked out in the semifinals by Lionel Messi’s Inter Miami.
In what will be their first regular season MLS match in over a month, Philadelphia will be trying to build on the form that has helped them reach their current third-place standing in the Eastern Conference. D.C. United, meanwhile, will look to bounce back from the tough road loss they suffered in their own MLS return against the New York Red Bulls, conceding the match’s only goal in the 88th minute.
Let us know your thoughts on tonight’s matchup in the comments!
Key Players: Mateusz Klich
Klich returns from suspension and will be available against Philadelphia. Since signing for D.C. at the beginning of the year from Leeds United, Klich has been one of United’s most consistent performers and has been able to play a multitude of positions. Playing mostly as a central midfielder during his time in Europe, Klich still primarily offers that stability in the middle of the park, but he’s also ventured further up the pitch since joining D.C. Sometimes playing as an attacking midfielder or on either wing, he’s become the second highest goal contributor on the team (after Christian Benteke). His absence through suspension was noticeable in last Sunday’s loss, and his availability for this match is a huge boost for D.C.
Watch out for: Dániel Gazdag
Gazdag has been a consistent best for the Union, able to generate creative play in the attack. The Hungarian midfielder has put nine in the back of the net so far this season for Philadelphia and scored a massive 22 goals during the 2022 campaign.
Challenges: D.C. United need to step up and snag points or risk missing a playoff spot as the regular season races toward a conclusion.
Previously: The Black-and-Red met up with the Union during the Leagues Cup (much to D.C.’s detriment) and they played to a regular season scoreless draw back in May.
D.C. United Availability:
Out: Martin Rodriguez (knee), Mohanad Jeahze (leg)
Philadelphia Union Availability:
Questionable: Julian Carranza (hamstring)
Location: Audi Field, Washington, DC
Kickoff time: 7:30 pm ET
Referee: Marcos Deoliveira
Available streaming: MLS Season Pass on Apple TV
Goff reporting only Jeahze and Rodriguez out injured. When was the last time we had a full bench and four players extra? It feels like it’s been forever and it will be interesting to see which two of Fajardo/Hurtado/Robertha/Fletcher make the bench.
That and if Pines can force his way back into the team. Which I doubt will happen without an injury because Rooney all season has seemed to prefer mid-floor low-ceiling players like Birnbaum/Santos as opposed to a low-floor high-ceiling player like Pines.
Philly plays a press. You don’t put Pines out against a pressing team because he is hopeless with the ball at his feet. Williams, Birnbaum and BHI are all far more adept at moving the ball than Pines. Pines has height and decent pace, but he is a lost cause if you require him to move the ball at all.
Birnbaum is decent at cycling the ball, but he’s never going to carry the ball past a pressing player. Pines, along with Williams and BHI, can surge with the ball pretty well. Playing Birnbaum is probably the safer option, and I’m not going to be mad if he starts, but Pines can do well against the press of he’s on his A game and will result in less booting of the ball upfield.
That being said, what I’d really like to see is Najar at RCB for this game. If there’s anyone who can beat a press than it’s him. Rooney hasn’t played him there at all, but that might be because Ruan has been injured most of the times Najar has been healthy. Maybe Davis can fill a similar role at LCB.
Well, Najar doesn’t make the 18 (warmup injury maybe?) and Durkin seems to be at RWB with Asad pairing with Canouse.
I don’t hate it. Asad is best used against physical sides like Philly. He can’t match them for running but he can draw fouls better than anyone else on the squad.
Maybe it’s just me, but I think this is a more important game for Klich’s stay at United than it seems. I know his numbers aren’t terrible compared to a lot of our players, he’s clearly got more quality than probably anyone but Benteke, but Benteke has been in an impact slump, while Klich has been in a void of late. I know he wasn’t available last game, but he needs to step back in, be fully adept at a position, and get us some success.
Wondering if we’ll see Eric Davis in this game. In the match preview, David Gass called Davis the best crosser of the ball in CONCACAF, which seems like really high praise. He’s seen some action against Philadelphia already, and looked like he served a wicked free kick and had the nerve to bury a penalty in his debut. Pedro Santos has been okay, but not much of a force going forward. Holding Philly to scoreless draws is all well and good, but at this point we need points. Playing at home, we can try and go for a good win.
LUFC starting XI vs Indy 11:
Jacomen in Goal
Neville, Washington, Leerman, Rocha (left to right) in the back
Koanda at DM
ElMedkhar, Turner, Houssou, Williamson in the midfield
Garay up top
Revs have transferred their star goalie Petrovic to Chelsea for a reported $17.5 million transfer fee (plus add ons): https://www.mlssoccer.com/news/new-england-revolution-transfer-djordje-petrovic-to-chelsea-fc
Wonder what the fee was when he signed for NE? Likely example of good buisness from a well run MLS club. It would be nice to see a certain DC based club demonstrate the same.
I think it was around $1 million. A bit less. So yeah, really good business by New England.
Every other Eastern Conference team seems to actually be good at some bit of business (except maybe Toronto). DC has such a long, long way to go.
Miles to go before I sleep…..
DCU Lineup
Starting XI: Miller, Hines-Ike, Birnbaum, Williams, Asad, Canouse, Durkin, Santos, Kilch, Pirani, Benteke
Bench: Hopkins, Davis, Pines, Fajardo, Bono, KDP, Hurtado, Robertha, and Dájome
If Asad plays 48 minutes, he’ll pass 5,000 minutes played for his DC United career.
If Asad plays 48 minutes, I’m going to develop a drinking problem.
That is an incredibly slow lineup.
MLS Season Pass on my laptop apparently doesn’t remember that I’m a subscriber. Fabulous.
Even though this is the free game this weekend, it’s not doing anything when I push Play. Some straight up Flo shit.
Welp.
I’m sorry if you got logged in and had to see this. Alex and I are here in person and 😭
I did get things working. I’d love for United to be able to say the same.
I offer free group therapy for the abused….
At least Oktoberfest is coming….
I was wondering if Philly’s strategy early was to press patiently and let us have the ball till we fuck up. Didn’t have to wonder for long.
Philly 1-0
Welp.
And may I say that Klich’s service is off to an uncharacteristically shitty start tonight.
They’re averaging about a goal every 6 minutes and change so far. Lovely.
2-0 Philly
United is averaging one goal every five games right now.
Wait, are you telling me we’re unlikely to score more goals?!? I am shocked, Shocked!
Is it just me, or was Williams much better as the central of the three defenders? He made several sloppy giveaways against NYRB as well.
Kinda glad…that I turned in late…
Well, good news, we bucked the trend of a goal every 6 minutes… but might just have been due to injury delay.
Good thing it’s a bit of a drive to the ocean, the part of me that wants United to win games wants to walk into it.
Santos with a ball to the far post from him but no one there….
It occurred to me that I could commiserate with Dave Johnson rather than whoever the fuck these people are, but that option isn’t showing.
Apple sucks.
Well, looks like we’ll just have to fight our way back against (checks notes) Philly… yeah, never mind
If Canouse picks up a yellow tonight he’ll be suspended for yellow card accumulation.
Tis a cruelty to load a falling fanbase
Will, you need to cross your fingers here. With how chippy it’s been, I’m concerned!
First half substitute territory (probably past that window unfortunately)? This does not strike me as the ideal lineup to try to climb out of a 2-0 hole.
Super impotent.
Might be subs in the other direction. Protect Canouse from a possible suspension by bringing in Hopkins, rest Benteke… this game looks like it’s fucked
That was too close
It’s a PK from Miller now. Yikes.
Well shit this is game
Can Philly win 8-0? I think that’s what I’m rooting for now.
To beat that 7-0 mark from August 2019 in Philly? I remember because I was at a concert at Wolf Trap.
Yeah. Set a personal record and then see if they can beat it.
I’ve been having flashbacks.
I think, objectively, that wouldn’t change things from a structural standpoint from the higher ups, especially the owners. Taxi’s horror show didn’t make them change things, why would this?
Unless you just want to feel something, in which case, yeah, seems possible.
What we really need is just a new everything: Owners, Front Office, Coach, Roster…
Yep. As is, we’re the league’s best argument for relegation.
If Pro/Rel existed DCU would never make it back to the top flight….We’d be perennially bouncing between 2nd, 3rd, and 4th tiers…
Yeah, exactly. We’d probably go insolvent first, though
Where’s the team that took Philly to PKs in the Leagues Cup?
They won’t be able to give away home tickets against Philly next year, at this rate.
Wayne and the players were stressing that they could make the playoffs if they won their home games. And then they come out and put on this performance.
Playoffs aren’t happening. Just play the young kids.
🎵For your information, there’s an inflammation in my tear gland.🎵
Name that song. Gotta pass the time somehow.
Pirani seems to care, but I bet this organization can fix that.
He’s been a bright spot.
I’ll try to cool it on the comments for a while, just wanted to say, I basically tune in partly for morbid curiosity these days, but mostly to be able to talk about this club to you all. You all make this weird futility seem worth it.
So, thanks.
Heck I start every game assuming we’re going to get smoked that way I’m not surprised when it happens.
That is the season. It was good to be in it until this late this year.
Too many missed opportunities, too little depth. It’s hard to come off a wooden spoon season then make the playoffs when your division is the stacked one (the west is much weaker with LAFC falling apart and multiple teams in rebuild mode)
It’s a shame that Rooney won’t be around for a second offseason as I’d like to see what he could do with a team that is more roster and more time to build the system. What we saw this year was positive and a step in the right direction. Just not yet consistent and not yet enough depth,
Cincinnati has done a spectacular job of building up a joke of a club. It turns out that if you have Lucho Acosta and Junior Moreno on your team, you can do good things!
Hmm… I wonder who on earth would let them go? 😭
It took them a few seasons to get where they are now. It wasn’t over night. They were a very weak expansion team and weak in year 2. They made the playoffs in year 3 and 4 and became contenders in year 5.
Yeah, they were able to follow a rebuilding plan, even while going through multiple coaches and GMs. Whereas DC just farts along, not doing any particular coherent thing.
Like I have said, this team/organization has done the impossible:
Lost me
While I think the main problem with the team is Kasper, I’m over Rooney at this point. He’s had a year to put his stamp on this team and the motivation just doesn’t seem there for me. Tactics aside, the team rarely has any urgency or fire in them.
I guess it shouldn’t be surprising. If you have a short term (one season) plan to build a roster from one of the worst ever without the ability to really remake the roster, with the attitude of winning now with mostly castoff older pieces… this is kind of it. The age and depth problem is evident in the energy levels and fight now.
I’d like to see a team that needs to chill out a little for once rather than a team of too cool for school.
Urgency, I don’t see it, it baffles me. I didn’t watch this one, but it’s been a thing for me.
Bono for Miller (injury) and Ruan for Durkin
Bono has a bloody nose after colliding with Carranza.
Or saving Carranza’s shot with his face.
OH come on that had to have crossed the line!
DCU just got robbed that looked like it was completely over the line.
Simply unbelievable.
Do we not have goal line technology? I’m a bit surprised
Nope no goal line tech
Huh, I thought MLS was fully in on new tech in the sport, and that’s pretty simple, I thought
If we were fully in on tech we’d also have the semi-automated offsides
It’s a strange league, isn’t it
Don Garber clearly in the ears of the commentary team. Ha. Deflect all questions about lack of goal line technology in MLS.
Of course because Darth Garber doesn’t like DCU and never has it seems.
Nah. That money is earmarked for Messi now. No more for such spurious investments like goal line technology of semi-automated offside. 😉
That’s not true, he keeps offering to massage the club’s face with a pillow
Thank you for Darth Garber
It fits so well
Seeing the Spirit game tomorrow at the stadium. That is, if the supporters don’t tear this mother down tonight.
Service from Santos just has not been there tonight. Wonder if KDP or Davis will get a look.
Service from Santos has been pretty awful all year.
Santos has been off most nights this season.
I’m not his biggest fan, but Benteke is doing his damndest tonight. Hats off to him.
Philly, I must say, have shown remarkable restraint this second half
If there’s one thing I’m OK with about not having Dave Johnson available, it’s to not hear that blessing of a softy say “Santos out in a good shift” as he runs off as fast as his snail legs will carry him
Fajardo’s on, to see if he can’t sneak a goal for Philly, I mean, United
Well Loudoun scored in the 1st minute then lost 2-1.
That sequence looked better
And we’re denied by the offside flag….
In the net, but offside.
Of course.
TEDDY KDP!
KDP makes it 3-1
TKD, marry me
First goal against Philadelphia in at least two years.