Oh, and no one in the league scored more than the Union's 73 goals in 2022. Blake is arguably the best goalkeeper in MLS history, Jack Elliott and Jakob Glesnes are among the premier center-back duos in the league, Kai Wagner's sustained performances at left-back have garnered considerable interest from European clubs and Jose Martinez offers that back line enough support for them to concede the sixth fewest shots on target in MLS. Philadelphia aren't just any postseason opponent, though. The Union join Phillies, Eagles in Philadelphia's frenzied title talk1dJon ArnoldWhat's driving MLS' reported playoff revamp?1dESPNHave LAFC cured growing pains from signings of Bale & Co.?3dKyle Bonagura That kind of form should frighten any postseason opponent. Between their two playoff wins so far and the final three games of the regular season, Santiago Rodriguez, Talles Magno, Gabriel Pereira, Heber and Maxi Moralez have combined for 10 goals and eight assists. Their total of 26 goals against is best in the league and Andre Blake's 11.24 goals prevented is good enough for second.Įven without Castellanos, the depth and variety of attackers that NYCFC can field is impressive. Despite Philadelphia's dominance this season as the Eastern Conference champions, tied for most points in the league in 2022 and its highest-scoring team, they were fairly pedestrian in chance creation (13th) and shots conceded (14th), and trailed NYCFC in both categories as well as xG and shots on target conceded.įrom the goal out, though, Philly are without equal in MLS. The Union won both contests against NYCFC this season, 2-1 at home and 2-0 on the road, bettering their opponents in both expected goals (xG) 4.06-2.78 and chances 22-19 across the two games. That should be motivation enough on Sunday. ESPN+ viewers guide: LaLiga, Bundesliga, MLS, FA Cup, more Having fallen in an Eastern Conference final defeat to NYCFC while 11 players were absent because of COVID protocols, the Union then had to watch from home as the Bronx Blues went to Portland and beat the Timbers to MLS Cup. The end of last season's playoffs must surely have been tough to stomach for Philadelphia. With the conference finals kicking off on Sunday, ESPN asked Jeff Carlisle and Austin Lindberg to break down both matchups, and had Kyle Bonagura and Dan Hajducky help them predict which two teams will head to the MLS Cup next Saturday.Įastern Conference1. LAFC, Philadelphia and Austin were three of the league's five best teams from start to finish this season, and apart from some CONCACAF Champions League-related hiccups and an adjustment period following the departures of 2021 Golden Boot winner Valentin Castellanos and respected manager Ronny Deila, NYCFC could consider themselves part of that group, too. Sure, this postseason has seen some upsets, but this is one of the most regular-season-representative set of conference finals in recent memory. 2 seed in the Western Conference and New York City FC, your defending MLS Cup champions. Rather surprisingly for this league, it's the usual suspects: your Supporters' Shield winners, LAFC the Philadelphia Union, who finished the season level on points with the Black and Gold Austin FC, the No. The MLS Cup playoffs are down to their final four.
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