Who: Philadelphia Union (3rd place,  23 points, record 7-3-2) vs. LA Galaxy (15th place, 3 points, 0-9-3)
What: 2025 regular season game
Where: Subaru Park
When: Wednesday, May 14th, 7:30 PM
Watch: MLS Season Pass on Apple TV+, Listen in on 97.5 FM
Whistle: Ref: Fotis Bazakos, AR1: Adam Wienckowski, AR2: Diego Blas, 4th: Sergii Demianchuk, VAR: Daniel Radford, AVAR: TJ Zablocki

Photo courtesy Philadelphia Union Communications

The Union looks to continue its undefeated streak on Wednesday against the only club yet to win an MLS match in 2025. The LA Galaxy are the reigning MLS Cup Champions, however, the absence of former Barcelona midfielder Riqui Puig due to a knee injury in the playoffs and the departures of multiple key players due to roster compliance issues following the title win have kept the Galaxy from entering the win column this year. 

The sides have not met since July 2023.

Scouting Report: LA Galaxy

The Galaxy has thre points and a -20 goal differential across twelve matches this season. In their previous match at the New York Red Bulls, they fell 7-0, the largest defeat in club history. They will look to get through this final match of their East Coast trip without much more embarrassment before heading home to face LAFC in El Trafico on Saturday. 

They lack a playmaker without Riqui Puig, and Greg Vanney’s side has struggled to find ways to attack without him. As long as the Union can shut down Marco Reus in midfield and Christian Ramirez up top, the Galaxy will have a hard time getting points out of this match. 

• Player Availability: Joseph Paintsil – Thigh (Out), Gabriel Pec – Hip (Out), Riqui Puig – Knee (Out)

Scouting Report: Philadelphia Union

Philadelphia will be hungry for points after dropping two from a last-minute equalizer against Columbus last weekend. They are in a tough stretch of matches every fourth day, so rotation in the lineup will be expected. For those on “Cavan-watch”, the young Sullivan was subbed out at halftime on Sunday for Union II, suggesting he may get to participate for the first team in some form Wednesday evening. 

Andre Blake is still questionable per Bradley Carnell, who explained in the pregame press conference that the first-choice goalkeeper is dealing with fluid in his knee. Andrew Rick has had an excellent past week and should have no issue filling in for him again. The teenager is the more likely choice between the two backup keepers since Oliver Semmle played a full 90 minutes most recently on Sunday for Union II in a 3-0 win over Columbus Crew II. 

The biggest key for the Union going into this match is staying sharp. The Columbus equalizer came in a moment where the Union defense momentarily “turned off”, and Bradley Carnell will not want his side to repeat that against a team that has only scored eight goals this season. The boys in blue will be just fine if they hold the pressure on the travel-weary Galaxy and make use of their depth to prevent overworking players that will need to make appearances on the road against Atlanta on Saturday and back home again in the Open Cup next week.

• Player Availability: Ian Glavinovich – Knee (Out), Neil Pierre – Knee (Out), Andre Blake – Knee (Questionable), Olivier Mbaizo – Knee (Questionable)

Key Matchup: Jovan Lukic and Danley Jean Jacques vs. Marco Reus

Reus is the closest thing to a playmaker that the Galaxy has left without Riqui Puig, so it will be up to the Union’s pair of defensive midfielders to hold pressure on the former Borussia Dortmund man and prevent him from moving the ball forward. Lukic and Danley have excelled together in recent weeks in shutting down other creators in the midfield. It will be interesting to see how they handle the 35-year-old. 

Player to Watch: John McCarthy

The former Union, Union II, and Ocean City Nor’easters keeper is returning to Subaru Park for the second time since doing that thing in that match we won’t mention. McCarthy is yet to keep a clean sheet in nine matches for the Galaxy this season and will be called upon many times as the last line of defense against the red-hot Union attack. 

Prediction: 3-1 Philadelphia

In week one of this season, no one would have expected this match to be so winnable for Philadelphia. Both teams are having seasons that seem like complete opposites of their expectations, and given the lack of rest time between both teams’ previous matches and the fact that the Galaxy have been on the road since last Friday, there is no strong argument for either team’s form to change in this midweek contest. Quinn Sullivan, Tai Baribo, and Mikeal Uhre should continue to create, and as long as the defense is solid behind them, it should be a comfortable match.