Two sides with contrasting recent records in the MLS will meet at the Toyota Stadium on Sunday morning, when FC Dallas play host to Philadelphia Union.
The hosts are in 11th place in the Western Conference with 17 points after 15 games, while the visitors are three points clear at the top of the Eastern Conference standings.
Match preview
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The month of May was widely expected to be a breaking point for Philadelphia Union, but instead, it turned out to be one of the club's most impressive in recent memory.
Kai Wagner's stoppage-time goal sealed a dramatic 2-1 comeback win for the Union on the road against Toronto FC in midweek, marking their 10th victory of the season and keeping them firmly atop the MLS Eastern Conference standings.
Wednesday night's clash with Toronto followed a thrilling 3-3 draw against Lionel Messi and Inter Miami just days earlier, and with those results, they are now unbeaten in their last eight league matches and 10 across all competitions.
Notably, Bradley Carnell's side have now scored two or more goals in eight of their last 10 games and are the top-scoring team in the East with 32, while also holding the second-best defensive record with 18 goals conceded.
On the road, the Union are riding a three-match winning run and have taken 15 points from a possible 21 this season, which is the joint-best record across the entire MLS alongside the Vancouver Whitecaps.
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In contrast, FC Dallas are in desperate need of a victory, as they are now winless in their last five league matches, while their only win in May came against lower division outfit AV Alta FC in the US Open Cup.
However, Los Toros managed to rescue a 3-3 draw from their visit to TQL Stadium against FC Cincinnati in midweek, thanks to a stoppage-time goal from Sebastien Ibeagha after Petar Musa and Anderson Julio got on the scoresheet earlier in the second half.
Notably, while Eric Quill's side has struggled to secure wins recently, their draw against FCC marked the third time this season they have come back from a two-goal deficit on the road to earn points.
To date, the Burn have won 13 of their 17-point tally this season from losing positions, which is more than any other team in the MLS after the first 16 rounds of matches in the competition.
Dallas have only earned four points from six home games this term, though, and are now set to face an opponent they have not beaten in their last three MLS matches (W0 D1 L2), dating back to April 2019.
Team News
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Sebastian Lletget has not featured for Dallas since sustaining a hamstring injury against Atlanta United on April 6, but the 32-year-old returned to team training in the last week and could make the matchday squad this weekend.
With Lletget now on the verge of resuming first-team action, the Toros have just two players ruled out through injury in Leo Chu, who is expected to remain sidelined for the foreseeable future with a knee injury, and long-term absentee Geovane Jesus.
For the visitors, Israel international Tai Baribo has been in excellent form this season, currently on 13 goals and one assist in 15 league games, which puts him in the lead in the Golden Boot standings.
Philadelphia Union also have two players currently sidelined through injury, including Ian Glavinovich (knee) and Neil Pierre (knee), neither of whom are expected to return before mid-June.
Dallas possible starting lineup:
Paes; Moore, Ibeagha, Urhoghide, Farfan; Kaick, Ramiro; Kamungo, Acosta, Julio; Musa
Philadelphia Union possible starting lineup:
Blake; Westfield, Glesnes, Harriel, Wagner; Sullivan, Bueno, Lukic, Vassilev; Taribo, Darmiani
We say: Dallas 1-2 Philadelphia Union
These sides have been on contrasting paths over the last month, with the hosts winless in their last five league games and the visitors unbeaten in eight, six of which ended in victory.
Philadelphia Union have also won their last three league games on the road and have the best away record in the MLS. We feel the visitors will come away from this match with all three points.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Devesh Jaganath
