Philadelphia Union continues their homestand at Subaru Park on Wednesday night, this time hosting Western Conference foe LA Galaxy in a midweek matchup. First kick is set for 7:30 pm on the riverfront, click here for tickets or tune in with MLS Season Pass on Apple TV.
The defending MLS Cup Champions continue their East Coast trip in Chester just four days after falling 7-0 to New York Red Bulls at Sports Illustrated Stadium. With the loss, LA Galaxy became the only team without a win through Matchday 12, further solidifying their spot at the bottom of the West with just three total points.
As for Philadelphia Union, they've enjoyed a four match unbeaten streak in MLS play, and they'll look to make it five on Wednesday in front of the Union faithful before heading back on the road to take on Atlanta United on Saturday. The last time Galaxy visited the Union was in 2018, and should Head Coach Bradley Carnell’s team come away with all three points, it would mark the Union’s first-ever MLS win at home against the LA side.
Galaxy's recent form is a far cry from that which brought them their sixth MLS Cup back in December, but Head Coach Bradley Carnell was asked to assess the visitor’s season so far, he explained that ahead of this one, his focus is locked on his team and their principles.
“It puts more focus on my group and what we are practicing and preaching within these four walls. You can only imagine what's going to happen on the other side or what's going on, and that's when I prefer to extract myself and just focus on the group here,” Carnell said.
“We have our own mission. We have our own targets and objectives. We are pushing each other every single day, and I've always spoken about this regardless of opponents. I think this is a very similar message. Everyone's talking about trap games and what have you, and for sure that’s the potential trap game, and I think we've had more than our fair share of trap games so far this season.
Regardless of opponent, winning at home is paramount to Carnell and his team, and they enter Wednesday’s matchup days removed from a 2-2 draw against Columbus Crew that was moments away from finishing in a three-point jump to first place in the East for the Union. A late equalizer from the Crew forced the teams to split points, and although they still added one to their total against a formidable conference leader, they’ll enter the match hungry for a more definitive result against Galaxy.
“We've moved on from that, the group's in a good way. We're going to give up set piece goals. We're going to give up goals out of the run of the run of play. It's the cycle of a soccer game, and soccer games are games of mistakes and opportunities for the others. If we mitigate the big ones, we hope to win the games, and sometimes we might just tie them,” Carnell said, reflecting on the draw.
Injury update
During his Tuesday press conference, Carnell provided an injury update on Andre Blake, who’s been absent from the matchday roster for the past two matches. He told the media that the three-time MLS Goalkeeper of the Year remains questionable due to fluid build up in the knee.
