The Philadelphia Union will be reacquainted with Atlanta United on Sunday afternoon.
Coverage of the match begins at 1:30 p.m. on The Gambler with the DraftKings Pregame Show hosted by Jon Jansen and Joe Tansey. Dave Leno and Sebastien Le Toux will have the exclusive game call at 2 p.m. ET. The Postgame Show with Jansen, Tansey and Kevin Kinkead follows immediately after.
The Union eliminated Atlanta from the Concacaf Champions League in the quarterfinal stage in early May. They captured the first leg through a 3-0 win at Mercedes-Benz Stadium.
Philadelphia comes into the match off a 4-0-1 run since securing advancement into the CCL semifinals. Two of those victories came on the road against the Chicago Fire and D.C. United.
The Union are one of three teams in an Eastern Conference playoff position with multiple road victories. Five clubs across MLS have achieved that feat.
Neither team will be at full strength for the first meeting in league play between the two sides this season.
Jose Martinez is away at the Copa America representing Venezuela. Atlanta forward Josef Martinez is also on that roster.
The Union will be without Daniel Gazdag, who picked up a minor injury in Hungary's Euro 2020 preparations. Gazdag was forced to depart Hungary's camp with a knee injury, but the Union confirmed no structural damage was revealed in scans.
Atlanta will also be without Brooks Lennon, who suffered a torn ACL in training during the break.
For the Union, Leon Flach should slide back into the No.6 role. He filled in there when Martinez was serving a red-card suspension.
Martinez's absence could open up a starting role for Anthony Fontana, who has been stuck on the bench for a majority of league play with Jamiro Monteiro playing further forward.
Union manager Jim Curtin has thrown out the possibility of playing Kacper Przybylko in the No. 10 role with Sergio Santos and Cory Burke up top.
However, that setup seems more likely to happen later in matches instead of from the start since the Union would prefer to have a striker available off the bench. That setup also takes Przvbylko further away from the net, and that is not an ideal place for the team's in-form scorer to play.
Due to the absences within the Atlanta squad, the odds are more level for Sunday's match over at DraftKings Sportsbook.
Atlanta is the +145 favorite on the money line. The Union are a +190 underdog. A draw is listed at +220.
The lack of Martinez up top and the Union's stout defense could lead to another under hitting in a Union contest. Five of the last six Union league matches have had two goals or fewer. Under 2.5 is listed at -125.