Behind Enemy Lines: Scouting Philadelphia Union 🔎

After traveling over 8,000 miles in the last two weeks, FC Dallas is back at home this weekend when they host the Philadelphia Union.

Both teams are coming off positive results in the midweek matchday. The Union picked up a 2-1 road win in Toronto, while Dallas is coming off another wild come-from-behind draw on the road in Cincinnati.

Let's dive into the Union and what they bring to Saturday's game, and how FC Dallas can finally break their curse at home this season.

Key Player: Tai Baribo

The Isreali international has been sensational this season with 13 goals and one assist through 15 games this season. He is currently leading the league's Golden Boot race by three goals over Vancouver's Brian White.

Key Matchup: Baribo vs Sebastien Ibeagha

If Osaze Urhoghide is held out of this one following the injury he picked up in Cincinnati, the defensive responsibilities to slow down a guy like Baribo will be left with the veteran Ibeagha.

Availability Report1:

Suspended: none
Out: Ian Glavinovich (knee), Neil Pierre (knee)
Questionable: none
On Loan: none
International duty: none

Quick Notes:

All-time at FCD: The Union are still searching for their first win in Toyota Stadium, as they have a 0-7-1 record in all-time meetings in North Texas.

Recent run against FCD: The two sides have only met three times in the last five seasons, including one in the COVID-shortened season of 2020. Philadelphia has not picked up a win in those three meetings, going 0-2-1, with the most recent match in 2023 ending in a 1-1 draw.

Recent form: The Union have been one of the stronger teams in MLS this season as they are currently in the hunt for one of the top spots in the Eastern Conference. In their last five games, they're unbeaten with a 3-0-2 record. In fact, they're currently on a eight game unbeaten streak, with their last loss coming at NYCFC in mid-April.

Comparing the two clubs: The team comparsions do lack Wednesday night's stats in them right now, but this does paint an interesting picture as to how good the Union have been this season. Neither team likes to possess the ball all that much but where the Union stand out is in their attack with the quality finishing that they have and their ability to win duels.

Potential Lineup:

Like Dallas, the Union were also in action on Wednesday night, so we could see a bit of a rotated lineup from them.

Blake; Westfield, Glesnes, Harriel, Wagner; Bender, Bueno, Lukic, Bedoya; Baribo, Uhre

Keys To Three Points over Philadelphia

1. Limit set pieces: The Union are better than anyone at finding the back of the net off set pieces. They've scored 12 goals this season from dead ball situations. The Dallas defense will need to be smart in defending those set pieces as well as limiting how many chances the Union are able to get off set pieces.
2. Spread them wide: I'll gladly be the broken record with this point, but all three of Dallas' goals in Cincinnati came from a wide position with a ball into the penalty area. The Union don't give up a ton of goals defensively, but they have been broken down along the width of the field when teams have been able to create chances against them.
3. Rebuild the Musa/Acosta chemistry: It may have taken 50 or so minutes to see things turn in Dallas' favor against Cincinnati on Wednesday night, but we got another glimpse of how good Lucho Acosta and Petar Musa can be together on the field. These two need minutes together again to get back to a level that we were expecting at the beginning of the season. With a weekend off coming up, let them go all out in this one.

1 Note: MLS has a injury report deadline that doesn’t hit until the day before each game. Our scouting reports will include last week's report and will be fully updated the day before with our injury report for FC Dallas.