Union Matchday 5 Preview: Mickey Mouse Chester House

Well, that was certainly not the result most people expected north of the border. An absolutely chaotic game that saw a red card, a very, very long VAR check to give Montreal a goal, and a late winner from Romell Quioto gave CF Montreal a shocking 3-2 victory over the Philadelphia Union. This was not the way that any Union fan saw this game going. It was not a great game from the start as the team went down early to a tough penalty. They responded with two goals from Mikael Uhre but as stated previously, Montreal found a way to steal all three points from the Union.

Philadelphia Union vs Orlando City SC

Now, the Union faces a different sort of problem as MLS is one of the few leagues around the world that plays during the international break. Between international duties, suspension, and injuries, the Union will be down close to ten players for this upcoming matchup against Orlando City SC. After a rough result at the Olympic stadium, can the boys in blue respond in the first game of a two-game homestand? Let’s look at how Orlando has fared to this point in the season, the player to watch out for, and a prediction for this weekend’s game.

International Duty, Injuries, and Suspensions leave Union with a thin roster for Matchday 5

2023 MLS Season

Last season was probably one of the best in Orlando City’s history. They finally got their first trophy, winning the Lamar Hunt US Open Cup in a 3-0 victory over Cinderella darlings Sacramento Republic. They barely qualified for the playoffs, finishing in seventh place with a 14-14-6 record and forty-eight points, which was two more than the Columbus Crew. They flamed out in the first round of the playoffs, but winning a trophy made this one of the best seasons in their MLS history.

Orlando, like the Philadelphia Union, didn’t lose too many pieces from their US Open Cup-winning side last year. They kept the majority of the attack that propelled them to the Open Cup and added a few solid pieces to it. However, their record in the league has not truly reflected the wealth of attacking talent that they have. Through four games, they have accumulated a record of 1-1-2 for one win, one loss, and two ties.

This is good for five points and ninth place in the Eastern Conference. They also crashed out of CCL in the round of sixteen against Liga MX side Tigres. Despite drawing the away leg, they ended up losing in the second leg due to the away goals rule.

X-Factor

Orlando is in a similar situation to the Union in terms of players being unavailable due to international duty with the likes of Facundo Torres and Pedro Gallese being with their respective national teams. This makes choosing the x-factor for this game a little more challenging, but not totally impossible. This player that I’ve decided to pick is one that has started showing some real promise and can absolutely go after a backline with skill and pace. This player is none other than the flashy Argentinean midfielder Martin Ojeda.

Through four games, two of which are starts, he has a goal to his name. The ability to take defenders on is something that Ojeda excels at. While he won’t have a player like Facundo Torres to compliment him, he still has plenty of other teammates to help combine with. The Union defense will need to get their heads together to stop Ojeda from getting in behind and creating havoc as he has through the early part of the season.

Prediction

This game has made me go back and forth in terms of the result. With both teams missing players, it certainly levels out the playing field and makes for a game that has the possibility of being very open. However, I think Jim will get on his team after a result that he was quoted as calling a “shit show”. This team does not usually have poor results back to back and I do not think that this starts now.

It will be an interesting lineup for Jim to put together, but the depth of this team will be on full display this weekend. Put me down for a 2-1 Union win to put them on the upswing after a tough weekend in the Great North. Game time on Saturday is 7:30 pm ET.