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Philadelphia Union
The Union welcome LAFC to Talen Energy Stadium for the first time in club history on Saturday night. Kickoff down by the river is at 7:30 p.m. We’ll have the PSP match preview later this morning, and Mike and Nick will have full coverage from Talen.
After the Atlanta match, Kacper Przybylko had some bold words for LAFC. Former Union left back Jordan Harvey’s response: “If that’s what he thinks then that’s cool, man.”
Speaking of Harvey, Jonathan Tannenwald has a good story on his journey after leaving Philly… *checks notes* EIGHT years ago? Where did the time go?
No answer yet whether runaway MLS MVP Carlos Vela will play on Saturday night. Would be huge for the Union if he can’t go.
Some thoughts from Matt De George ahead of Saturday’s game.
Local
The Philadelphia Unity Cup continues this weekend with the round of 16. All eight games are at the James Ramp Playground in northeast Philly; check out the schedule here.
MLS
MLS is also back with a full schedule. If you’re scoreboard watching on Saturday: NYCFC (in first place by three points) hosts San Jose at 12:30 p.m., and Atlanta (three points back of the Union with a game in hand) welcomes in Columbus Crew at 7:00 p.m.
Overseas
The Premier League is back. The Guardian has ten things to watch out for.
You can check out Footy on the Telly for the full schedule of games on this weekend.
Listening to Jim Curtin’s midweek presser, I got the impression that some players opened up the coaching staffs eye’s with their performance against Pumas. I think he was impressed with the speed of Santos & Ngalina playing wide with Fafà playing the number 10. Also Anthony Fontana’s free kick was a thing of beauty. Although I’m not a fan of a friendly in season, this lining up with the international break and the abundance of Union depth seemed beneficial for players and coaching staff…..might of been because they won 3-0 and nobody got hurt though.
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Joe Tansey wrote a good article and how they might approach the San Jose game in the coming weeks after watching how they played against Pumas.
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https://www.prosoccerusa.com/mls/philadelphia-union-depth-fafa-picault-andrew-wooten/