MLS unveils Union’s 2022 Schedule

Today at 2 pm EST, MLS unveiled every team’s 2022 schedule. The Union’s schedule came out and showed that Philly will play 34 matches in 2022. 26 of those matches will be games against the teams in the eastern conference, and eight will be against the western conference teams. The Union’s 2022 schedule is now out, let’s take a look at it and break it down!

Mandatory Credit: Philadelphia Union via Twitter

Union’s 2022 Schedule

https://twitter.com/PhilaUnion/status/1471196796613537800

The Union will play 22 different teams in 2022. They’ll play every team in the east twice, showing the importance of getting points from the teams fighting Philly for playoff seeding. Philly will also play four western conference teams at home and four on the road. This is getting back to a normal style of schedule as 2020, and 2021 were influenced heavily by the pandemic and were mainly intra-conference matches. Five of the Union’s 34 matches will be on national tv, with two matches on ESPN and FS1 respectively, and one on UniMas. Here’s a list of the full schedule for a closer look at who Philly will play.

DATEOPPONENTTIME (EST)Broadcast
Sat., Feb. 26Minnesota United FC1 pmTBD   
   
Sat., March 5@ CF Montreal4 pmTBD   
   
Sat., March 12San Jose Earthquakes7:30 pmTBD   
   
Sat., March 19@ New York City FC1 pmTBD   
   
Sat., April 2Charlotte FC7:30 pmTBD   
   
Sat., April 9Columbus Crew6 pmTBD   
   
Sat., April 16@ Toronto FC7:30 pmTBD   
   
Sat., April 23CF Montreal3 pmTBD   
   
Sun., May 1@ Nashville SC4 pmESPN
Sat., May 7@ LAFC11 pmTBD   
   
Sat., May 14New York Red Bulls7:30 pmTBD   
   
Wed., May 18Inter Miami CF7:30 pmTBD  
   
Sun., May 22@ Portland Timbers10 pmFS1
Sat., May 28@ New England Revolution7:30 pmTBD  
   
Sat., June 18FC Cincinnati7:30 pmTBD   
   
Sun., June 26New York City FC6 pmFS1
Wed., June 29@ Chicago Fire FC8 pmTBD  
   
Sun., July 3@ Columbus Crew7:30 pmTBD   
   
Fri., July 8D.C. United8 pmESPN
Wed., July 13@ Inter Miami CF8 pmTBD  
   
Sat., July 16New England Revolution7:30 pmTBD
Sat., July 23@ Orlando City SC7:30 pmTBD  
   
Sat., July 30Houston Dynamo FC7:30 pmTBD   
   
Sat., Aug. 6@ FC Cincinnati7:30 pmTBD   
   
Sat., Aug. 13Chicago Fire FC7:30 pmTBD  
   
Wed., Aug. 17@ FC Dallas9 pmTBD   
   
Sat., Aug. 20@ D.C. United7:30 pmTBD   
   
Sat., Aug. 27Colorado Rapids7:30 pmTBD   
   
Wed., Aug. 31Atlanta United FC7:30 pmTBD   
   
Sat., Sept. 3@ New York Red Bulls7 pmTBD   
   
Sat., Sept. 10Orlando City SC7:30 pmTBD   
   
Sat., Sept. 17@ Atlanta United FC3:30 pmUniMas
Sat., Oct. 1@ Charlotte FC7 pmTBD   
   
Sun., Oct. 9Toronto FCTBDTBD   
   

The Union’s 2022 season, is one where Philly could truly compete for an MLS Cup. That is the logical next step for this team. The club will need significant improvements for the attack, but the midfield, defense, and goalkeeping are already at a high level. Let’s look at how important the matches are against the rest of the east in 2022.

Home and Away vs all eastern conference teams

Over the last two seasons, the Union has had their two best years in franchise history. In those two years, the Union has played the majority of their games against the eastern conference. In 2022, the scales tip back to a more normal type of schedule. This means that the Union will only play two matches against every eastern conference opponent. One match home; one match away.

This will be a true test for the Union. In years past they had the opportunity to play teams three, four, even five times in a season. Having a team’s number and beating them that many times in a season can produce a real boost in the standings. In 2022, they only have the opportunity to take a maximum of six points from an eastern conference opponent. It jacks up the intensity when playing an intra-conference opponent, and makes every eastern conference match even more important. With that being said, there are also eight games against teams from the western conference.

Four home & four away vs west

The Union gets to play four matches at home vs Minnesota, San Jose, Houston, and Colorado; Philly also plays four matches away vs Nashville, LAFC, Portland, and Dallas. These eight games make for some interesting opportunities to take some “bonus” points against teams from the opposite conference. The home games are especially important as it’s a chance to beat a team that rarely comes into the fortress that is Subaru Park. The away matches will be tougher.

Late kickoff times and hostile environments await Philly on the road in 2022. Philly kicks off against Dallas at 9 pm EST, Portland at 10 pm EST, and LAFC at 11 pm EST; they will also be the first team to enter Nashville’s new stadium. These are tough places to play, but it will test the metal of this Union team and of their coach Jim Curtin who has come up with good away results in tough places to play over the past few years.

More in-depth breakdowns to come later

There are only 11 weeks until MLS’ 2022 campaign begins. As we get closer to the start of the season, and the dust settles on teams transfers, we’ll do an in-depth breakdown of every team the Union faces in 2022. It’ll be a true season preview in a multi-article series coming this February!

Be on the lookout for that, and in the meantime take your time going through this schedule, planning your away trips to see the boys in blue, and predict how many wins/points the Union should take from a schedule like this!

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Mandatory Credit: Philadelphia Union via Twitter