Friendly #2 Preview And Game Thread: Philadelphia Union Vs. Aston Villa

Tonight the Philadelphia Union host Aston Villa, formerly the home of English internationals James Milner, now with Manchester City, and Ashley Young, currently playing for Manchester United.

Villa faced problems reminiscent of the 2012 Nowak-era Union during the 2011-2012 English Premier League season, nearly being relegated to the English Championship. A chance in managers during the season helped to alleviate some of Villa's problems, but they still barely stayed out of the relegation zone.

Darren Bent, Gabby Abonglahor and Shay Given headline this season's squad, with Paul Lambert as the team's third manager in only two years. The Union have dealt with limited central defensive depth all season and have played plenty of games of late and will continue to have a tight schedule moving forward.

Expect the Union to role out a team of mostly reserve players and rookies due to Philadelphia's away game against the New York Red Bulls on Saturday in Harrison, NJ.

Playing into Philadelphia's favor will be the weather tonight, which will stay in the 90s with high humidity, something that Villa's players are not used to playing in during their preseason.

After the jump, the game thread portion of this post, including lineups, prediction and television information.

Philadelphia Union starting XI (projected): Chris Konopka; Raymon Gaddis, Greg Jordan, Chris Albright, Profirio Lopez; Zach Pfeffer, Keon Daniel, Roger Torres; Josue Martinez, Antoine Hoppenot, Jimmy McLaughlin

Philadelphia Union bench (projected): Chase Harrison, Michael Lahoud, Roger Torres, Gabriel Farfan, Chandler Hoffman, Freddy Adu, Amobi Okugo

Aston Villa XI:

Aston Villa bench:

Use this space to discuss the game. Please do not use it to post illegal streams, troll, or attack others. Aston Villa fans are more than welcome to join the discussion, but don't be a douche bag. As someone who has been on this network for a long time, it is very easy to tell the difference between someone well-meaning, and someone whose sole purpose is to incite a reaction out of others, a.k.a. trolling.

Prediction: Union win 1-0. Philadelphia is still undefeated at PPL Park in international friendlies and has a propensity to participate in low scoring affairs when it comes to facing foreign teams.

Game is scheduled for 7:30. Aston Villa will stream the game live on its website, but 7500 to Holte, SB Nation's Aston Villa site, says that it is a pay service. It is, however, available through Villa's online audio stream here - need to sign up for their site to access it.

Talk about the game here.