Latest Philadelphia Union-LAFC Clash Has Muted Feel To It

The Union and LAFC will square off on Saturday for the third time since 2022 MLS Cup and in the middle of busy stretches.

CHESTER — There is a lack of buzz surrounding Saturday’s MLS Cup rematch at Subaru Park.

The Philadelphia Union host LAFC in the third clash between the two sides since last November.

Saturday’s game comes in the middle of busy stretches for the two MLS teams with the most games on their legs, and oh by the way, it may be played in pouring rain depending on how the forecast shakes out.

“I think if you talk to both teams, I don’t know the exact number of games we’ve played this year, it’s definitely well over 40. It’s a lot of games,” Union captain Alejandro Bedoya said. “It’s a tough stretch for both teams. They just played in St. Louis. We played away on turf. We have three straight weeks of midweek games.”

“For those who aren’t on the inside, this takes a toll on players mentally and physically,” Bedoya said. “Is it less of importance of a game? I don’t know if it has that same hype as it did when we hosted them in Champions League earlier in the season. This is now far away from the MLS Cup Final. It’s a very important game for us. We’re trying to finish top two and give the fans something to cheer about.”

The impact of the schedule volume has been felt most on two of the key players in the rivalry with LAFC.

Jose Martinez and Jakob Glesnes are both listed as questionable for Saturday. Martinez has been dealing with a few small knocks in recent weeks, while Glesnes is managing pain tolerance with a groin injury.

“Jose came out of the game in Charlotte. He’s day-to-day. We’ll see how he responds and recovers. He had some scans taken and it’s labeled as a bone bruise. It becomes a tolerance of pain and how you can handle it. It’s not anything that is going to be long term,” Union head coach Jim Curtin said. “Jakob has been playing through a groin issue/start of a sports hernia, however you want to label it. He’s really pushed all season long with 40-plus games on his legs already.”

“Those two guys I would label as day-to-day. They want to be part of these types of games and situations. We’ll make a smart decision,” Curtin said. “It’s a pain tolerance thing at this point (with Glesnes). There’s nothing we can do right now to pause the season and get a surgery, which he might need in the offseason. I don’t want to speculate, but that could be the direction it goes. If you do that now, it’s done for the year.”

“(Jakob) has a really high pain tolerance,” Curtin continued. “The time off does tend to heal it. If you remember, we gave him some time off during the last international window and he responded with a really good performance after that. It’s not something that is going to end his year at all, but we do have to navigate things as we go now Saturday, Wednesday, Saturday again. We’ll have to pick and choose the right moments and be smart about it. He has an ironman streak going as well. We have good center backs too. We can go to guys and they can step into cover.”

Blame whomever you want for the injuries and potential rotation in both squads, but it’s clear the Union are more focused on themselves than LAFC.

Both teams made deep runs in the Concacaf Champions League and then had to go through the rigors of Leagues Cup. LAFC had a small respite because it did not play in the Leagues Cup group stage, but still the games have added up.

On top of all that, LAFC has to play in the Campeones Cup on Wednesday instead of resting ahead of a crucial stretch run in the regular season.

Saturday’s game carries some significance if you look forward to MLS Cup.

A Union win would put them seven points ahead of LAFC. That is important for MLS Cup hosting priorities. The Union’s primary goal, though, is worrying about the No. 2 seed and then letting the hosting math play out.

“I haven’t even thought that far ahead,” Bedoya said. “We just clinched with a comeback against Charlotte the other night. The focus now is taking care of business in our home games.”

“Our goal is to get back to the MLS Cup Final. I don’t care how we get there, but I haven’t thought about how that all will work out,” Bedoya continued.

The Union enter Saturday in fourth place in the Eastern Conference with a two-point gap to Orlando City in second place.

Philadelphia owns a game in hand over Orlando and the Columbus Crew, the two teams between it and the No. 2 seed. None of the Union’s closest competitors have games in hand on them.

Orlando hosts a Lionel Messi-less Inter Miami on Sunday, Columbus is on the road at FC Dallas, the fifth-place New England Revolution visit Chicago, Atlanta United in sixth place hosts CF Montreal and seventh-place Nashville is on the road in San Jose.

Although the Union have the toughest opponent of the top seven in the East this weekend, an argument can be made that the match does not mean that much to LAFC.

The Black-and-Gold picked up a valuable point on the road in St. Louis, and their focus may be on the final four MLS matches. LAFC hosts Real Salt Lake and Minnesota United and then plays winnable road games against Austin FC and the Vancouver Whitecaps.

If the two sides did not meet in the CCL, maybe there would be more buzz around Saturday’s match, but a clash between two tired sides in poor weather probably will not dominate the national headlines.

An ugly, gross game favors the Union, and while a win over LAFC is still a win over LAFC, it may not carry the same weight because of the recent high-stakes games between the two franchises.

Photo courtesy of Philadelphia Union.