Philadelphia Union v DC United – MLS Betting Preview and Prediction
An Eastern Conference matchup between Philadelphia Union and DC United will take place this weekend, on Sunday, August 25 at Talen Energy Stadium.
Philadelphia Union and their away struggles
Sitting at the second place in the Eastern Conference, Philadelphia Union have had a solid season so far, as they hold onto a 13-6-8 record and 45 points. Looking back at their most recent fixtures, Union have won three and lost two fixtures, one of which last weekend, when Philadelphia visited Chicago Fire (2:0). While losing to Chicago by two goals is a bad result on its own, Philadelphia lost despite playing against 10 men for the entire second half. On that day Curtin’s men simply could not find their way to the net and even when they did, Philadelphia did not hesitate to waste all their chances.
While their performance against Chicago might seem like Philly are in a terrible form, we have gotten used to seeing mediocre results when Philadelphia is on the road. When it comes to home matches, however, the Philadelphia Union perform far better. As it stands now, they hold onto an 8-3-2 home record, with an average of two goals scored per game.
Something isn’t right in DC United
Looking at how DC United performed in their recent games, something clearly isn’t working for them. It may be their issues off the pitch, or maybe their issues on the pitch, either way, changes are needed. Their biggest issue going forward is their defense, which has conceded an unusually high amount of chances recently and while their results are by no means praiseworthy, it could be much worse if DC United would not have Bill Hamid in their squad. There was also some luck involved in their results, considering both of their last two opponents failed to utilize their chances to their full potential.
How DC United plans on fixing the ongoing issue with leaky defense is yet to be seen, however, if they don’t forge out a solid plan by Sunday, Philadelphia will have a solid chance to recreate their result from the start of August, when they crushed DC United (1:5).
Verdict & Prediction
Having received a red card midweek against Red Bulls, DC United will not be able to count on Wayne Rooney this weekend, which should not have too big of an effect on the team, considering all the things that are going on between the club and English striker. At the end of the day, with him or without, DC United are in terrible shape. Some arguments can be made Philadelphia are not in the best shape either, but considering this fixture will be played at Talen Energy Stadium, we can expect a much better performance from them compared to what they have shown in the last league fixture.
The only way we could see DC United walking away with anything is if Bill Hamid produces a game of his life. Philly already dismantled DC United 5:1 a couple of weeks ago and while Philly attack is not among the most potent in the league, they have shown they can score against DC United before, and there is no reason to believe that will change this weekend.
Prediction: Philadelphia Union -1.00 Asian Handicap
Odds: 1.71 Pinnacle
