Charlotte FC will look to guarantee a top four seed and home field advantage in their first-round Eastern Conference playoff series when they host the Philadelphia Union on Saturday in both teams’ regular-season finale.
Charlotte (18-13-2, 56 points) begins the weekend in fourth and can’t be caught if it earns a victory against the Union. If Charlotte FC lose, they could finish as low as sixth.
It might be equally important for The Crown to gain some positive momentum against the side that has clinched MLS’ best regular-season record.
Charlotte FC snapped a two-match losing run the last time out at D.C. United on Oct. 4, but they were still unimpressive in a 1-0 victory over the nine-man hosts. The game was decided by Wilfried Zaha’s goal late in the first half, his ninth of the season, and D.C. had two players sent off.
“We’ve kind of just been relaying the message (that) it’s our job to win this weekend and to secure more home games,” Charlotte midfielder Brandt Bronico said this week. “We like to take it game by game, but there’s no better test than the team that won the Supporters’ Shield right before playoffs.”
The Union (20-7-6, 66 points) are Shield holders for the second time in their club history, which guarantees home field throughout the MLS Cup playoffs and a first-round series against the winner of next week’s Eastern Conference wild-card game.
Philadelphia’s previous Shield title came during the 2020 campaign, which was shortened by the pandemic, and the Union were ousted in the first round of the playoffs that year.
While they won’t be playing for seeding in North Carolina, the Union will be aiming to break the club record of 67 points earned during the 2022 campaign, when they lost the Shield to Los Angeles FC on the first tiebreak of total wins.
“It’s another chance to end the regular season on a historical note for this club, and I think everyone’s hungry for that,” Philadelphia manager Bradley Carnell said. “There’s a lot that’s gone in our way and in our favor. We’ve earned it, and we’ve driven each other every single day to achieve it.”
Mikael Uhre has scored in consecutive matches for the Union, with his tally deciding a 1-0 victory over New York City FC on Oct. 4 that clinched the Shield. Tai Baribo leads the club with 16 goals.
–Field Level Media
