Match preview: Philadelphia Union vs. New England Revolution

Game: Philadelphia Union vs. New England Revolution

Date: Sunday, July 2nd

Time: 5:00 p.m. Eastern, 4:00 p.m. Central, 2:00 p.m. Pacific, 9:00 p.m. UTC

Venue: Talen Energy Stadium (Chester, Pa.)

Referees: Referee: Chris Penso, Assistant Referees: Eric Boria (bench side), Nick Uranga (far), Fourth Official: Marcos de Oliveira

Television: FOX Sports 1, FOX Deportes, AFN Sports 2

Streaming: fuboTV (Free trial + monthly subscription), Sling (Free trial + monthly subscription), Fox Sports GO

Radio: Sirius XM FC

All-time record:

The Philadelphia Union hold the edge, with nine wins, five losses, and four draws in MLS play against the Revolution. This will be the first time the clubs face one another since the Union beat the Revs 4-0 in August of 2016.

What Philadelphia will look like

One positive aspect of the Union’s loss on Wednesday to the New York Red Bulls in the U.S. Open Cup was that the Union were able to rest several of their starters. Except for Jack Elliott, the entire back line was rotated out from last week’s win over D.C. United, so Giliano Wijnaldum, Oguchi Onyewu, and Ray Gaddis were all rested, and Chris Pontius came on late to boot. The bad news is that CJ Sapong, Fafa Picault, and Haris Medunjanin all played 120 minutes, Alejandro Bedoya is with the United States National Team, and Andre Blake missed the match with a rib injury. Blake “will be available for the weekend” according to Jim Curtin however, so there’s some good news.

What New England will look like

In their U.S. Open Cup match against D.C. United on Wednesday, the Revs only played four players that had played in the previous week’s loss to Toronto FC (London Woodberry, Benjamin Angoua, Je-Vaughn Watson, and Diego Fagundez) while winning their match against D.C. Look for a well-rested duo of Juan Agudelo and Lee Nguyen to be as dangerous as ever for New England, as the pair have combined for 13 of New England’s 27 goals on the season.

Editors note: After this was originally published, Diego Fagundez was suspended by Major League Soccer for Sunday’s match for violent conduct in the match against Toronto FC. Also, Juan Agudelo will not be available for the match as he’s with the USMNT.

What to expect

Fitness will be everything for the Union. If they come out tired, they’re going to be at a severe disadvantage to the Revs. The Union’s defense will have its work cut out for it, thanks to the aforementioned Agudelo and Nguyen. That said, New England has also given up 25 goals on the season so if the Union’s offense can get out to an early lead it could be a good day for the Union - it’s easier to defend a lead with tired legs than chase one. I feel like the Union will need a big game from someone new this weekend, be it a rookie like Marcus Epps or a vet like Ilsinho who hasn’t performed perhaps as well as he could have thus far.