Breaking Down the Philadelphia Union's Path to the Postseason in the Eastern Conference

A look at the teams placed 7th-15th in the East and what the Union must do to make the postseason.

The Philadelphia Union have to rebound from their losses at the end of the 2024 Leagues Cup fast because their Major League Soccer regular season schedule resumes on Wednesday.

Over the last month, the Union displayed why they could be a tricky team to play against, but they also showcased inconsistencies with a bad second half against the Colorado Rapids in Sunday’s third-place game.

The Union’s realistic ceiling is the No. 7 seed currently occupied by Orlando City. The floor is last place and no spot in the postseason. 

Entering Monday, the teams placed ninth through 15th in the Eastern Conference are separated by two points. Orlando City is six points ahead of the bubble in seventh and Toronto FC sits five points ahead of the congested pack in eighth. 

The Union have one game in hand on the pack. Only New England, who has two games in hand, has not played at least 26 regular-season games. 

The top nine teams in each conference make the MLS Cup Playoffs. The No. 8 and No. 9 seeds in each conference take part in a play-in game to face the No. 1 seed in a best-of-three series in the first round.

Let’s dive into the closing stretch for the Union and their competitors.

Orlando City (7th place, 34 points)

Schedule: vs. NSH, vs. NE, vs. CLT, at CLB, at DAL, vs. PHI, at CIN, vs. ATL

Orlando City has the quickest path to exit the mess around the final few playoff spots in the Eastern Conference.

The Lions play Nashville, New England and Charlotte at home in their next three games.

However, it is worth noting Orlando is 3-5-4 at home and owns a better 6-5-3 mark on the road.

Three wins in a row, or even seven out of nine points, could be enough to gain the proper separation.

Toronto FC (8th place, 33 points)

Schedule: vs. DC, vs. ATX, vs. CLB, at COL, at CHI, vs. RBNY, vs. MIA

Toronto carries the same outlook as Orlando.

The Reds just need to win at home and that could be enough to take them away from the chaos.

Toronto is 6-6-0 at BMO Field and plays three straight games at home. The last game in that stretch is against Columbus, so six points against D.C. and Austin is imperative.

TFC plays five of its last seven games at home, a stretch it should take advantage of to finish inside the top nine.

Atlanta (9th place, 28 points)

Schedule: at CLT, vs. NSH, vs. MIA, at RBNY, at PHI, vs. MTL, vs. RBNY, at ORL

The Union’s battle might be for ninth place given how favorable Orlando and Toronto’s schedules look.

Atlanta is tied for the fewest road wins in the Eastern Conference with two.

So if you chalk up the remaining road games against Charlotte, Red Bulls, the Union and Orlando as losses, there is not much room for improvement at home for the Five Stripes.

If you’re a Union fan, you root for that awful road form to continue and for Miami to take a win in Atlanta to minimize Atlanta’s possible point total.

Philadelphia (10th place, 27 points)

Schedule: vs. CLB, at RBNY, at MIA, at NYC, vs. DC, vs. ATL, at ORL, at CLB, vs. CIN

The Union must take advantage of their game-in-hand on Wednesday to beat a hungover Crew squad.

The good news for the Union is they’ve scored the most goals among the teams in 7th-15th, and despite all the concessions this season, they have the third-best defensive record among that group of teams.

The Union’s playoff participation will come down to their road games. If they can somehow get points from those matches, they can sneak into the top nine, provided they win a majority of their home games.

Montreal (11th place, 27 points)

Schedule: at CIN, vs. CLT, at NE, vs. CHI, vs. SJ, at ATL, at CLT, vs. NYC

Montreal needs to turn around its 2-7-4 road record.

You could argue Montreal will lose all of its four remaining road games, starting with Saturday’s trip to Cincinnati.

The home games against New England and Chicago are potential six-pointers and beating Charlotte is no easy task as well.

Never say never in MLS, but Montreal has a tough task in front of it not just to win, but gain ground each week.

New England (12th place, 26 points)

Schedule: at RSL, vs. STL, at ORL, vs. MTL, at CLT, vs. NSH, at HOU, vs. DC, at CLB, at MIA

New England is a serious threat to any of the teams ahead of it in the standings because its only played 24 games.

The two games in hand could help, but that also comes with schedule congestion that affects the squad.

The Revs do not have a week off and they have a lot of travel in front of them.

They have to go to Salt Lake and Houston and finish in Columbus and Miami against two teams that will likely jockey for position at the top of the East.

Chicago (13th place, 26 points)

Schedule: vs. MIA, vs. DC, vs. RBNY, at NSH, at MTL, vs. TOR, at CLT, vs. NSH

Does anyone actually believe the Chicago Fire will pull this off?

The constantly-in-flux franchise has three home games in a row ahead, but two of them are against Miami and the Red Bulls.

The Fire could be out of the playoff conversation by the end of their two-game road swing to Nashville and Montreal.

Miracles can certainly happen, but the Fire may be more focused on yet another roster rebuild in 2025 before October begins.

Nashville (14th place, 26 points)

Schedule: at ORL, at ATL, vs. CHI, vs. CIN, at NE, vs. DC, at NYC, at CHI

Nashville SC is fascinating because the new coach bump could help it move up the standings quickly.

Nashville has two swing games ahead against its southeastern rivals that will probably determine how dangerous of a threat it is.

Only three home games left, one of which is against Cincinnati, and a 2-7-3 road record does not bode well for the team’s chances, though.

D.C. United (15th place, 26 points)

Schedule: at TOR, at CHI, vs. NYC, at PHI, vs. CLB, at NSH, at NE, vs. CLT

D.C. United only owns two road victories in 2024.

The Black-and-Red visit Toronto, Chicago, Philadelphia, Nashville and New England to close out the regular season.

Get points from the first two road games and we can talk about playoff credibility, but if not, it’s hard to build a path up to the top nine.

Photo courtesy of Philadelphia Union.