Philadelphia Union Continue Fight For No. 2 Seed Against FC Cincinnati

The Philadelphia Union face their second potential playoff-clinching scenario in a row on Sunday night against FC Cincinnati.

The Union enter the weekend in third place in the Eastern Conference, but there will be more clarity to their situation by the time they kick off on Sunday night.

As always, the match can be heard right here on The Gambler. Pregame coverage begins with Jon Jansen and Joe Tansey at 7 p.m. ET. The match call begins at 7:30 p.m. ET. Jansen, Tansey and Kevin Kinkead have the postgame show following the final whistle.

Philadelphia sits two points back of Nashville SC in the hunt for second place. Nashville visits fifth-place Orlando City on Sunday afternoon. The result of that game will directly impact the Union's clinching scenarios.

If Orlando wins, the Union have an opportunity to take second place back from Nashville with a win. A draw plays in the Union's favor as well since that would put them even on points with Nashville through a victory over Cincinnati. The Union still hold the wins tiebreaker over Nashville.

Jim Curtin's men could also get into the playoffs through a loss from D.C. United or Atlanta United, both of whom sit more than three points behind the Union. D.C. welcomes the Columbus Crew to Audi Field on Saturday, while Atlanta hosts Toronto FC on the same night.

New York City FC, who the Union play on Decision Day, could enter the conversation for the No. 2 or No. 3 seed with a win over Inter Miami and some help. The Pigeons are in fourth with 47 points. They would need some upsets to happen to enter the final weekend of the regular season in that situation.

The Union can ease a lot of concerns about their potential playoff spot by beating the worst team in the league on Sunday night.

FC Cincinnati blew a 3-1 lead over Nashville on Wednesday. The third-year side let up five unanswered goals to the team from Tennessee.

Cincinnati owns a -34 goal differential and it lost to a Union side that was heavily loaded with Homegrown players a few weeks ago.

The Union will be short-handed again in attack on Sunday night. Curtin confirmed that Sergio Santos injured his other quad toward the end of Wednesday's 2-2 draw with Toronto FC.

Cory Burke trained in full on Friday and he could be available for selection as well. Burke has been dealing with an ankle issue for the last month.

Curtin mentioned that Ilsinho trained at the start of Friday's session, but he still has a ways to go before he cracks the matchday squad again.


Sponsored Content

Sponsored Content