Philadelphia Union and the Seattle Sounders will be looking to register their first win of the 2024 MLS season when they face off at Subaru Park on Sunday.
The hosts have taken two points from their first two league games this season and are currently in ninth place in the Eastern Conference, while the visitors are on one point and are 10th in the Western Conference.
Match preview
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After reaching the Cup Conference semi-final last season, Philadelphia Union have made a somewhat shaky start to the current campaign, starting with a 2-2 draw to the Chicago Fire in gameweek one, followed by a 1-1 draw to Sporting Kansas City last weekend.
Between those fixtures, Union were also involved in the CONCACAF Champions Cup and only narrowly got past Deportivo Saprissa 6-5 on aggregate before playing out a stalemate against Liga MX outfit Pachuca in the round of 16 first leg in midweek.
Under the guidance of Jim Curtin, Philadelphia have reached the playoffs in each of the last six seasons, and the long-term manager will be looking to mark his 10th year in charge of the side with another solid season's performance.
The hosts made a similarly sluggish start last term, winning just two of their first eight league games, but they will need a positive result to kick-start their season here, which could also help build momentum heading into their Champions Cup second-leg showdown in midweek.
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Like their opponents in this match, the Seattle Sounders will be aiming to get past the Cup Conference semi-finals this season after coming up just short of the eventual runners-up Los Angeles FC last term.
However, the Sounders began the new season on a disappointing note, suffering a 2-1 defeat against LAFC in gameweek one, with Pedro de la Vega netting a penalty after the side conceded two goals in quick succession either side of the interval.
Last week, the Rave Green entered their second league game of the season as favourites at home against Austin but were unable to get the desired result as the visitors dug in to grind out a point with a 0-0 draw.
Across the entire of last season, Brian Schmetzer's side recorded nine wins, six draws and five losses in 20 away games, which ranked 11th in the league, though they have not beaten this opponent in their last three attempts and have failed to win at Subaru Park since 2014.
Team News
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Philadelphia will have to make do without the services of Julian Carranza for this match due to a thigh injury, which is expected to keep him sidelined for at least another couple of weeks.
Left-back Isaiah LeFlore and midfielder Leon Flach are also yet to feature this season owing to knee and shoulder injuries respectively, and the pair are only expected to return to action next month at the earliest.
Seattle have several players flagged as doubts for this match, including De La Vega (muscle), Joao Paulo (hip), Albert Rusnak (ankle) and 37-year-old Stefan Frei, who is suffering from a strained hamstring.
Yeimar Gomez and the club's January arrival Nathan are also unavailable for this match, having been granted special leave until the end of this month.
Philadelphia Union possible starting lineup:
Semmle; Mbaizo, Elliot, Lowe, Harriel; Martinez; Bueno, McGlynn, Raffaello; Donovan, Sullivan
Seattle Sounders possible starting lineup:
Thomas; A Roldan, Ragen, Arreaga, Tolo; Vargas, Atencio; C Roldan, Musovski, Chu; Ruidiaz
We say: Philadelphia Union 1-1 Seattle Sounders
Both these sides have made average starts to the league season and will be determined to notch up their first win of the current campaign. However, we feel this is likely to be a very even contest and expect these sides to share the spoils at the final whistle.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Devesh Jaganath
