3rd match of the a young season. The Philadelphia Union are traveling to face the Chicago Fire. The Fire are 0-0-1, while the Union stand at 0-2-0. Both clubs will be hungry for a win, and Chicago will want to put on a good show for their fans. The opening home game is always one you want to win.
And unfortunately, I think the Fire will win. I think they'll win comfortably. The Fire have a competent and speedy attack in Oduro and Nyarko. And normally, I would say the Union have a backline that could stop such an attack. But not this week. With Sheannon Williams away on national team duty, and captain Danny Califf not making the trip due to his knee injury, the Union backline is depleted. The Union will most likely play 3 at the back again, with Valdes in the middle, while Lopez and Albright play the flanks. And we all saw how well this worked against the Rapids last week.
So the real question is, can the Union strikers finish? I want to see Mwanga and Pajoy up front together again. There but for a few posts hit, and a few close opportunities, the Union could have scored 4 or 5 goals last week. Mwanga and Pajoy can not afford to miss those opportunities this week. There are a million reasons they need to win but here are a few.
1. The Union will fall to 0-3-0
2. Peter Nowak's experiment will fail
3. They need a stinking win
So I'm hoping against hope that the attack will have gelled together in the past week, and that the goals will come thick and fast. But with Williams and Califf out, the team on the road, and controversy popping up at every turn, i would say the odd of a win are small.
My Prediction: Fire 3- 1 Union
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