The second half of the 2025 Major League Soccer season is underway, and this week, the first place Philadelphia Union will continue their campaign on the road against Chicago Fire at Soldier Field for their first of three straight road matches in June.
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The Boys in Blue are coming off of a five-day break from team activities following their 2-1 win June 14th win against Charlotte FC.
They resumed training over the weekend in Chester in anticipation of the match to come, and though the pause in games has concluded, the full group isn’t entirely back intact quite yet, as Andre Blake, Quinn Sullivan, and Nate Harriel are still away with their national teams competing in Concacaf Gold Cup. Danley Jean Jacques was also among that contingent before returning to Philadelphia after playing in Haiti’s 2-1 loss to the United States on Sunday night.
"He's a big player for them and a big contributing factor, so we take all of that into account," Carnell said of the midfielder's availability for Wednesday's match.
"We take the travel to account. He only arrives later tonight so in terms of sleep regeneration and what have you, he's still in a match day recovery mode. So, we just have to treat that with respect and caution."
In addition to international absences, Carnell’s squad has been thinned due to multiple injuries, of which he also provided updates during his Monday afternoon press conference.
“There's a couple of question marks. Frankie Westfield sprained his ankle. Mikael [Uhre] is still out, Ian [Glavinovich] is trending in a certain way and we are hoping to get him ramped up at some point but still no outlook there. Then, we'll just see how we get through today and tomorrow's training,” Carnell said.
“Jesus Bueno’s training in the right way. He pulled his hammy a little bit in the last game. He got substituted, but he's shown real good trends to get back and to be ready to be competitive."
Injuries aside, Carnell and his staff, who’ve led their side to 10 straight unbeaten matches in league play, first place in the East, and the front of the Supporter’s Shield race, still remain optimistic about the two-match week ahead.
“I could argue we've been in a worse situation before. Going to Dallas and going to Montreal and what have you. So, I see the positive side to everything almost. My glass is mostly full, and I’m hoping to treat it accordingly," Carnell said.
"The energy I portray is the energy the team needs to feed off of, and I'm really excited about this. We've had some great results, especially away from home, and that's the kind of training we want to follow," Carnell said.
Philadelphia Union has established themselves as a top team in the East, sitting at least two results above the rest of the conference with 37 points. Wednesday's hosts are in 10th place, and while they’ve only secured seven wins to Philadelphia Union’s 11, they’re near the top of the league in goals scored with 35 goals so far this season. 10 of those have been scored by forward Hugo Cuypers, while midfielders Phillip Zinckernagel and Brian Gutiérrez are close behind with 7 and 6 apiece.
A showdown between two of the conference's top scoring teams could come down to defense, and Chicago Fire will likely send out a backline featuring a familiar face for Union fans. In the offseason, long-time Union center back Jack Elliott signed with Chicago Fire, and has since been an integral piece starting 16 matches for a total of 1409 minutes. Wednesday's match will be Elliott's first time facing Philly since departing after eight seasons.
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