Last season, D.C. United (6-3-1, 21 Points) swept the season series with a pair of 1-0 wins over the Philadelphia Union (1-3-7, 6 Points). The boys from D.C. will surely be favored once again to write the same script on Sunday when they head to the City of Brotherly Love.
ODDS ANALYSIS
The Union are really struggling at the moment, and they are playing against one of the hottest teams in the MLS. Though home field advantage is often overrated in this league, we can't imagine that the Union are going to be the favorites, and if they are, it certainly won't be by a huge margin.
About the only thing going for Philly in this match is the fact that D.C. United played on Wednesday night in Orlando and now have a tough road trip ahead on a short week of preparation.
KEY INJURIES
Richie Marquez has been suspended for this match by the MLS for a straight red card he received in Philadelphia's last match. He'll join Michael Lahoud, Antoine Hoppentot and Andre Blake on the sidelines in this fixture for the Union.
D.C. got out of its trip to Orlando without any further injury issues, and the only question mark is whether Fabian Espindola will get back in the fold over the weekend after sitting out with a quad strain against Orlando City.
QUOTE TO NOTE
"You know, Chris Rolfe's a player, an old teammate of mine, that when he's playing well and is confident like he's as dangerous attacking as anyone in the league." – Union manager Jim Curtin on Chris Rolfe, D.C. United's leading scorer on the season
RECENT FORM
United was fantastic in the second half against Orlando City on Wednesday, giving it 18 consecutive home matches across all competitions without a defeat. The Black and Red also have eight straight league matches with at least a point to their credit.
The Union have been beaten in four matches in a row, and they haven't picked up three points in a clash since April 11. Two of the four defeats came by exactly three goals, though it should be noted that each of those two clashes against Columbus and Vancouver came on the road.
TALKING TOTALS
It's a bit worrisome for United that it has allowed a goal in five out of six matches for sure. That said, the schedule has been particularly tough of late, and it wasn't until the team came home for dates against Columbus, Sporting Kansas City and Orlando City that things loosened up just a bit. Still, the total is split at 3-3 in all of D.C. United's matches since the very beginning of April.
Obviously, those three-goal defeat matches were both over duels, and Philadelphia has pushed five of its last seven games past the total. There's a real concern about this team at the back as well, knowing that it already has six matches this season with at least two goals conceded. There are teams that will go all the way into July or August before giving up two goals for the sixth time in a fixture.
ANALYSIS AND PREDICTION
The big issue that we see here for Philadelphia is a lack of offensive creativity. The team just hasn't pushed forward all that much this season, and outside of Fernando Aristeguieta, who has been called out of the squad to play with the Venezuela national team, there isn't a player on the team who has scored more than one goal this year.
Parlay all of that with a defensive unit which has conceded 21 goals in just 11 matches, and we see some real problems lying ahead for the hosts.
D.C. United 1, Philadelphia 0
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