The Philadelphia Union will play their most important game of the 2021 season on Saturday night at Subaru Park.
The third-placed Union welcome second-placed Nashville SC in a match that could flip around the Eastern Conference standings.
Game coverage begins on The Gambler with the Union Pregame Show presented by DraftKings at 7 p.m. ET with Jon Jansen and Joe Tansey. JP Dellacamera and Danny Higginbotham will be on the match call at 7:30 p.m. ET. The Postgame Show with Jansen, Tansey and Kevin Kinkead follows after the final whistle.
Nashville comes into Saturday's match three points ahead of the Union in the race for second place in the East. New England locked up the No. 1 spot in the East long ago. The Revolution have a 20-point lead on Nashville.
If the Union win, they will move ahead of Nashville in the standings. Total wins is the first tiebreaker in playoff races. Philadelphia has one more victory than Nashville.
Orlando City enters the weekend in fourth place with 46 points and 12 wins. Atlanta United is fifth with 43 points, CF Montreal is sixth with 42 points and D.C. United is in seventh with 41 points.
Orlando plays host to New England on Sunday night. Montreal is on the road in Toronto. D.C. visits New York City FC. Atlanta United hosts Inter Miami on Wednesday.
For Saturday's game at Subaru Park, the Union and Nashville will be without some key contributors.
Nashville's Hany Mukhtar and Luke Haakenson will miss the match due to yellow card accumulation suspensions. Cory Burke is out for another game with an injured ankle for the Union.
Philadelphia will have Sergio Santos available for selection. The Brazilian striker has been dealing with a light groin strain over the last few weeks. Union manager Jim Curtin would not reveal if Santos would feature in a starting or reserve role. Goalkeeper Andre Blake is in good shape as well after suffering an adductor injury while on international duty with Jamaica.
The Union will likely not make many lineup changes, if any, for Saturday's game. If Santos starts, the Union can make a simple switch back to the 4-4-2 diamond. They can still go back to that formation with Daniel Gazdag starting in the second striker role. Santos would come off the bench in that situation.
The other regular starters should be in the lineup for the massive clash against Nashville. After Saturday, the Union have three games remaining in the regular season with the next one coming on Wednesday on the road against Toronto FC.