The Philadelphia Union begins the 2024 season at home against the Chicago Fire on Saturday night at Subaru Park. Philadelphia, who is 2-0-1 in their three previous matches against Chicago, is coming into this season with high expectations. Chicago, on the other hand, is a team rebuilding, that hopes to move up in the Eastern Conference.
Philadelphia Union Opening Opponent: Chicago Fire
In 2023, the Fire finished 13th with a 10-10-14 record for 40 points. Last year, the Fire scored 39 goals in 34 games. The team, who made some changes in the offseason, needed to address this area, that previously had players, who underachieved. One player gone is, Jairo Torres, who never scored for Chicago while getting paid $6 million. The Philadelphia Union won’t worry about him today. In the offseason, the team did sign midfielder Kellyn Acosta, who was coveted by other teams. In over 250 games, Acosta has scored 43 points (18 goals-25 assists) for three different teams.
One player to watch against the Philadelphia Union, whom Chicago signed is striker Hugo Cuypers. Cuypers, who will be making about $12 million, arrives from Belgium where he scored 51 goals in 90 games. The team’s setup is a 4-2-3-1, and Chicago hopes that Cuypers is the guy, who scores a lot of goals this season.
Most of the experts have the Fire near the bottom third of the conference, but we will see how this team plays on Saturday night.
Philadelphia Union
Last year, the Philadelphia Union finished tied for fourth last year with 55 points (15-10-9) and were hoping to make another run for the MLS Cup. However, they were knocked out in heartbreaking fashion by FC Cincinnati. Already, Philadelphia has gotten a game under the belts, as they won a Concacaf Champions Cup game, 3-2 over Deportivo Saprissa. Julian Carranza scored a second-half hat trick.
The team, which is beginning its 15th season in MLS, will have the same leadership group, it has had in previous seasons. Returning is captain Alejandro Bedoya, who re-signed with the team, and his leadership, hopefully, will lead the Union deep into the playoffs. Besides Carranza, Philadelphia will have returning goal scorers, Daniel Gazdag and Mikael Uhre. Gazdag scored 14 goals in 30 starts, while Uhre in 26 starts scored 9 goals. Philadelphia will have a 4-1-2-3 format in 2024.
Andre Blake, who was the first overall pick in the 2014 draft for Philadelphia, returns in goal. The 33-year-old, was 13-5-9 in 27 starts last year.
Most of the soccer experts have the Philadelphia Union in the top five of the Conference. This seems like the last run of veterans like Bedoya and Blake, but with some mix of younger players, perhaps Philadelphia could return to the MLS Cup as they did in 2022.
About the Author
David has been following all types of sports since he was a kid. While Phillies baseball is his primary focus, David can talk about the Flyers, Eagles, 76ers, Union and college sports. He does computer work in Pennsylvania and does stats work for another sports company.
Follow him on X at @weightmanstats and follow us at @TotalApexSports