Photo: ESPN.Com
It wasn't too long ago that Union fans were pointing fingers and looking for answers. Since their CCC elimination, the Philadelphia Union have earned 7 points and scored 7 goals in the last three games.
What's been happening?
The Union hosted Minnesota last week and secured a 2-0 win against a strong Western Conference team. Although Daniel and Julian filled the stat sheet with goals, credit needs to be given to Quinn Sullivan and Jack Elliott who played excellent on Saturday. In regards to Jack, it has been a bumpy ride of late in terms of his performances, but he did enough to earn a MLS Team of the Matchday spot. Curtin was asked about his centerbacks, and Jose Nunez of AAT Sports Network shared his response on Twitter.
The first team is not the only club doing well for the Union. If you're following the GA Cup, then you know that the U-17 squad has advanced to the semi-finals after a 4-2 win against Hajduk Split. From checking the MLS website, it looks like their next match will take place tonight at 5pm against Clube do Regatas Flamengo
The final and possibly biggest takeaway from Jim Curtin's press conference was the news on Andre Blake. Our Jamaican goalkeeper left Saturday's match with a concussion injury, and he is currently questionable for today's game. With that said, the Union players and fans have full faith in Oliver Semmle. One of the Union's newest additions has proven to be an effective and confident player behind the Union's defense. Jose again shared Jim's comments on Andre's status, as well as another potential call up for Rick.
Match & Betting Notes
I wish our Boys in Blue could have stayed at Subaru Park a little longer, but they kick off another two-game road trip this weekend. Their first stop is at Nashville. Although we knew Andre's status would be up in the air, we now notice that Mikael Uhre is listed as questionable with a foot injury. I was hoping to see Mikael on the field tonight against Nashville. If you recall from the first ever game at Geodis Park, Uhre became the first goal scorer in the Nashville home arena. I would have liked for Mikael to repeat history tonight, so we'll see if he comes in as a sub.
Nashville is dealing with their own absences, and some fairly significant names are on their injury report. As of Friday evening, Leal, Shaq Moore, and Zimmerman are out, while Tyler Boyd and MacNaughton are questionable. For a Nashville squad that has given up 11 goals with a -4 goal differential, that is not the best news for the home team. In comparison, the Union have scored 10 goals this year in MLS play, and have only allowed 6.
I sound like a broken record by now, but I recommend using Action Network to shop for lines. I use it for multiple sports, and it's a very simple app to navigate.
BetRivers has the Union at +175 on the ML, while Bet365 lists Nashville at +162. The Over 2.5 is currently -105 on Caesars (these numbers are being pulled at 2:50am on Saturday morning). I know that Nashville is banged up, but I still have some worry about the Union playing in front of their usually strong home crowd. I went onto Fan Duel and saw that Philly is at +100 at Tie No Bet. Personally, even money for that play is a pretty solid choice if you ask me. I don't believe that Nashville is a better team than the Union, but these two clubs have typically played in close contests. Besides the 2-0 win in Nashville last year, most of these games have ended in a draw. Maybe I'm being a little cautious here, but I'll play it safe today.
From a prediction standpoint, the Across the Pitch team has their picks. Jose believes this could be a 3-1 rout for the Blue and Gold, with Carranza netting a brace, and Uhre scoring as well (if he plays, of course). As mentioned above, I am a bit more cautious here, and I am going to say a 1-1 draw with Quinn Sullivan getting another goal on his strong season. Finally, Dave also agrees with the 1-1 draw, but he thinks McGlynn finally gets in the scoring sheet with a goal. Also, if you think both teams will score, that number is at -140 on FanDuel.
Finally, I've put together some of the Anytime Goal Scorer numbers from Fan Duel:
Mukhtar: +115
Julian: +185
Daniel: +180
Uhre: +240
Sullivan: +400
McGlynn: +850
Elliott: +1500
Wagner: +2300
The Union travel to Atlanta next week, which we know will be a tough place to earn a point. For now, they have a great chance to earn their third consecutive win against a Nashville team that is 1-1-4 so far this season. Doop!
Mike Barrera (Mbarrera1323 on TikTok & Twitter)
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