After their meeting in the U.S. Open Cup was postponed due to severe weather, the Philadelphia Union and New York Red Bulls face off in MLS play on Saturday in Chester, Pa.
The Red Bulls (8-7-6, 30 points) and Union (12-5-4, 40 points) saw their Open Cup quarterfinal on Wednesday put on hold due to a series of storms passing through the Delaware Valley. That match will now be played on Aug. 13.
It doesn’t affect Saturday’s already-scheduled MLS Eastern Conference match between the two teams, though, with the Union having dropped their last two in league play after an 11-match unbeaten streak. Their last outing, a painful 1-0 loss at 10-man Nashville SC on July 5, saw Hany Mukhtar convert a penalty deep in second-half stoppage time.
Wednesday’s events certainly set up an unusual set of circumstances for Union head coach Bradley Carnell’s team.
“Normally, if it was a different opponent, you go straight on to Thursday and plan for a new set of things, what you might face,” Carnell said. “We’re trying to control what we can control, and that’s our environment and what we want to do.”
Meanwhile, the Red Bulls — 0-1-3 in their last four matches — are seeking to return to their winning ways after coming off three consecutive draws. They appeared to go up 2-1 over the 10-man San Jose Earthquakes on July 5 but saw a possible match-winner in the 83rd minute disallowed on an offside call.
New York hasn’t beaten Philadelphia since 2019, going 0-9-4 in the past 13 meetings (including playoffs).
“We’ve obviously lost to them a decent amount of times, but I think the games, at least since I’ve been here, have been so close,” Red Bulls midfielder Peter Stroud said. “It doesn’t feel like we’re losing every single time because we’re coming so close and we’re pushing them to the edge. And I think there’s been games that we should have won and deserved to win in these past couple years.”
The Red Bulls will be without Raheem Edwards after he was sent off against the Quakes with a second yellow card in the 87th minute.
For the Union, Mikael Uhre (hip) has resumed training but is “questionable” for Saturday, Carnell said. Jesus Bueno (hamstring) has been ruled out.
–Field Level Media
