Match Preview: Union seeks first win of MLS season against injury-ridden Seattle Sounders

It’s been another busy start to the 2024 season for Philadelphia Union, who just played its 5th game in 14 days against Pachuca in the Champions Cup on Tuesday night. A 0-0 draw sets the Blue and Gold up with a decent opportunity to seal the two-legged tie down in Mexico next week But before Union can put all their focus into the international competition, they’ll need to turn their attention towards something historically difficult for team’s competing in both co – securing points in MLS play.

Union vs Sounders History

Union’s opponents on Saturday night have played an important role in Union’s story at multiple points in their 15 years in MLS. On March 25th, 2010, Philadelphia Union played its inaugural match in Major League Soccer against the Seattle Sounders. Union would go on to lose its opening match by a score of 2-0 to the Sounders, and it wouldn’t be the last time Seattle spoiled the party in Philadelphia.

In 2014, the Sounders came to Chester, PA, and crushed Union’s dreams of lifting the US Open Cup at home in front of their fans after scoring twice in extra-time. In 13 matches overall between the two sides, Union and Seattle have a split record of 5 wins, 5 losses, and 3 draws each.

Though this will be their first meeting since 2019, Union has seen success against Seattle in their most recent meetings. Since the Open Cup loss in 2014, Union has had a record of 3 wins, 1 draw, and 1 loss in 5 meetings against the Sounders, and has clean sheets in each of the 4 positive results across those games.

Season so far

Seattle is off to a bit of a concerning start to the 2024 season. Though they’ve played just 2 games, they’ve kicked off their campaign with a 2-1 loss on the road to LAFC – a team many think is Seattle’s direct competition at the top of the Western Conference – and a 0-0 on the road to Austin FC, a result few fans could find a silver lining in. They’ve yet to score a goal from open play, with Pedro De la Vega being the lone goal scorer so far this season.

The bumpy start to the season doesn’t seem to be getting much easier for the Sounders, after head coach Brian Schmetzer revealed mid-week that Joao Paulo, Stefan Frei, and Albert Rusnak will all be unavailable against Philadelphia over the weekend, on top of already missing their new, expensive addition of De la Vega for the next 6-8 weeks. It’s also come out via the MLS status report, that defender Nathan is also out with something non-injury related.

That being said, Seattle still has a strong core group of players like Alex and Cristian Roldan, Jordan Morris, Raul Ruidiaz, Leo Chu, and other promising younger names that will require Union to show up and take care of business.

Philadelphia at a glance

Likewise to Seattle, Union looks like they’ll be missing a key piece to the puzzle as well on Saturday night with Julian Carranza still not 100% ready to return to action.

With an important 2nd Leg of the CONCACAF Champions Cup down in Pachuca next Tuesday night, it’s probably best they save Carranza’s health and fitness until then, but it means we’ll see some rotation come to the lineup once again.

Philly vs Seattle Predictions

With the injury to Carranza and the prospect of Champions Cup down in Mexico on Tuesday, the starting XI that Jim Curtin will select to face Seattle is a little tricky to predict. We saw Mikael Uhre alone up top on Tuesday night in Carranza’s absence, with Daniel Gazdag and Quinn Sullivan as duel #10’s behind him, and Ale Bedoya on the right side of the mid-field.

I’m curious if we see a similar configuration come Saturday, or if Curtin will throw either Chris Donovan or Markus Anderson into the mix in the attack. Quinn Sullivan and Jack McGlynn could probably both use a rest as they’re the only 2 players on Union’s roster to start all 5 games thus far, but at the same time – Quinn Sullivan feels undroppable right now.

With Damion Lowe and Jack Elliott both missing out on Tuesday’s CCC game because of suspension, I’d suspect to see one, if not both in the starting XI on Saturday night against the Sounders. While Jim Curtin and crew are putting a lot of focus on the Champions Cup, Union’s head coach says the team recovered well after Tuesday’s midweek clash with Pachuca and is looking for nothing less than 3 points against the Sounders with a strong team over the weekend.

I don’t want to say it’s a complete guess, but I could see a lot of my lineup prediction for Saturday night being – I just don’t know who does and doesn’t get rested on Saturday night.

One thing is for sure, In net will be Andre Blake, who seems to be back to full health. Kai Wagner will take his spot at Left Back, with what I think will be Jakob Glesnes and Damion Lowe as the CB pair. Though I think the Right Back spot is Nate Harriel’s to lose, I could see Curtin going with Mbaizo in this game despite his lackluster outing against Pachuca midweek, only to save Harriel – who’s played both Left Back and Center Back in the last two games – for Champions Cup on Tuesday.

I think Jose Martinez will take his spot at the CDM, with Jack Mcglynn on the Left, Quinn Sullivan on the right, and Daniel Gazdag at the 10. As for the striking duo, I think Curtin is going to start with Chris Donovan and Mikael Uhre up top. I think Curtin is going to look for his team to score early – something they’ve yet to do consistently this season – so they can get the likes of Quinn Sullivan, Mikael Uhre, and Jose Martinez some rest.

Of course, things rarely go as planned. Regardless, Curtin says he and his staff feel confident about their plan not only for Saturday night against the Sounders but for the quick turnaround in Mexico on Tuesday.

I think the injuries to this Seattle team make this game look a little easier for Union on paper than it might actually pan out to be – Seattle is a resilient side, with a tremendous head coach, and players that have been through the gauntlet before being the first MLS side to ever lift the CONCACAF trophy.

That being said, I think the Union should feel good about their chance of securing their first win of the MLS season against an injury-ravaged Sounders squad at Subaru Park on Saturday night, a venue the Blue & Gold seldomly lose at. I think Seattle will sneak in a goal, but ultimately I think the Union send their fans home from the forecasted rain with the first 3 points of the season after a 2-1 win.