Philadelphia Union will aim to strengthen their place at the top end of the Major League Soccer Eastern Conference on Saturday, when they host FC Cincinnati.
Despite seeing their form dip slightly in recent weeks, the home side sit second in their division, while the visitors are six points worse off in seventh place after 14 league games.
Match preview
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Philadelphia Union enjoyed a strong run of form to start the season, as they put five consecutive wins on the board after an opening-day draw.
That run was eventually put to an end by a defeat to Toronto, before Jim Curtin's side played out five draws on the bounce in the MLS.
They were finally able to return to winning ways in late May, beating the Portland Timbers 2-0 away from home thanks to goals from Daniel Gazdag and Sergio Santos, before playing out their seventh stalemate of the season in their most recent outing.
Curtin's men travelled to take on New England Revolution, and they were eventually able to leave with a point as Mikael Uhre equalised late on, immediately after Gustavo Bou had broken the deadlock.
Now returning to action after over two weeks off, Philadelphia will look to take their MLS wins tally to seven for the campaign to strengthen their position at the top end of the division.
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They welcome an FC Cincinnati side hoping to bounce back from consecutive defeats which have seen them quickly drop away from the top few sides in the Eastern Conference.
Following a slow start to the domestic campaign, the Orange and Blue put themselves in a strong position with four straight MLS wins over April and May, as they firstly beat Toronto in back-to-back meetings.
Pat Noonan's side then picked up a 1-0 win away at Minnesota United, before making it four on the bounce as Luciano Acosta found the net in the 85th minute to snatch all three points in a 2-1 victory over Chicago Fire.
The Orange and Blue have since failed to add to that streak, though, and they head into the weekend on the back of consecutive defeats, firstly losing 3-2 at home to New England Revolution before falling just short in a dramatic encounter against CF Montreal.
Despite Junior Moreno hitting a brace and Alvaro Barreal getting on the scoresheet to make the game close, they were eventually beaten 4-3 on their travels, and Cincinnati will now hope to bounce back to winning ways with the chance to climb back into the playoff places in their division.
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Team News
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Philadelphia Union are without Brandan Craig, Paxten Aaronson and Quinn Sullivan, as the trio are all away on international duty with the USA Under-20s.
With Aaronson and Sullivan out of the picture, Cory Burke is likely to come into the attack from the outset.
Mikael Uhre is a fresh doubt due to an injury, after he came off the bench to salvage a point last time out.
FC Cincinnati will remain without goalkeeper Alec Kann through injury, while Calvin Harris and Allan Cruz are also sidelined.
Brandon Vazquez will continue to lead the line, having netted seven goals this season, while Junior Moreno is another threat following his brace last time out.
Young winger Alvaro Barreal also added to his tally in that game, and he will hope to continue impressing on Saturday.
Philadelphia Union possible starting lineup:
Blake; Harriel, Glesnes, Elliott, Wagner; Flach, Martinez, Bedoya; Gazdag; Burke, Santos
FC Cincinnati possible starting lineup:
Celentano; Powell, Murphy, Hagglund, Nelson; Nwobodo, Moreno; Barreal, Acosta, Badji; Vazquez
We say: Philadelphia Union 2-1 FC Cincinnati
The hosts have shown themselves to be among the MLS' strongest sides so far this season, and we back them to narrowly get over the line in what should be an intriguing encounter.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Top tip
Sam Varley
