For the second time in nearly 10 days, the Philadelphia Union will face off against the New York Red Bulls on Saturday at PPL Park with kickoff scheduled for 7 PM ET (TV: 6abc).

Recent meetings

In their last matchup against NYRB, the Union came away with a penalty kick shootout win at Red Bull Arena in the U.S. Open Cup Quarterfinals, behind goalkeeping heroics from John McCarthy. Also, in late May, the Union beat the Red Bulls in their only matchup so far in Major League Soccer play by a score of 2-0 thanks to some great counter attacking play along the wings.

However, despite winning their last two matchups against the Red Bulls, Philadelphia Union manager Jim Curtin is not resting upon his laurels. When referring to Red Bulls manager Jesse Marsch, Curtin commented that “He’s not going to be happy after that [U.S. Open Cup loss]. You know, we share texts, and he kind of mentions we have a little bit of their number rights now but, to be honest, if you look at the games, they’ve had the better of the play but we’ve gotten the result.”

It is starting to get to be crunch time for the Union, as there are only 12 games left in the MLS season. “I don’t care if we win 1-0 off an own goal, I don’t care if we score off a corner kick, I don’t care if it’s off a free kick, I don’t care if it’s the most beautiful goal in the world. We have to get a win at home and that’s our mindset and mentality,” said Curtin, recognizing the importance of the final 12 matches. “We have 12 games left…we have to win at a minimum six, at a minimum… We’ll have to get on a run again.”

Roster upheaval

However, the Union will also be dealing with a roster in flux. Goalkeeper Brian Sylvestre was off to the side during practice at the end of the week, and is considered questionable for Saturday’s game. If Sylvestre cannot go, Curtin has an interesting dilemma on whether to start John McCarthy or Andre Blake. This season, McCarthy has beaten the Red Bulls twice in his two starts so far. Andre Blake, the number one overall pick in the 2014 MLS SuperDraft, has returned to the team after spending time with the Jamaican National Team at the Gold Cup. Blake was drafted to be the future goalkeeper of the Union and it may be about time to see what he can do between the sticks.

Another player who will be a game-time decision will be center back Richie Marquez. Marquez felt good while fully participating in practice on Friday, according to Matthew De George of the Delco Times. If Marquez cannot go again, Curtin will most likely turn again to Ethan White to fill in. However, Steven Vitoria is not on the injury list and could be in line to start for the first time since the beginning of the season.

The most concerning of those players missing will be Vincent Nogueira, who will be out for three to four weeks with a quadriceps strain. Dave Zeitlin wrote about the injury and the impact here.

To get an idea of how much Nogueira means to this team, Chris Winkler wrote a piece from May. The numbers haven’t been updated but the point is still evident, which is that the Union’s offense suffers when they cannot pair Nogueira and Cristian Maidana in central midfield.

How might they adjust?

It is no secret that the Union are a counterattacking team. They regularly concede possession battles but, when possible, will try to build counters through the wings. Maidana is a threat to come from the central position to more of an outside position, in order to help produce more chances on offense. However, those opportunities on the counter are only started by the deep-lying playmaker, Nogueira, playing the correct initial ball.  Without Nogueira, a central midfielder like Zach Pfeffer will need to step up to give this team a chance to grab three points.

Another person that could fill that hole in central midfield is the newly arrived Tranquillo Barnetta. Barnetta has expressed more of an interest to play centrally as opposed to on the wing. Philly Soccer Page wrote a piece about expectations and remarks from the press conference which unveiled Barnetta. However, Barnetta will most likely feature as a substitute on Saturday against New York.

The full official injury report for both teams can be read here.

For the Union to come out with the crucial three points, the team will not only need to stick with attacking on the counter but, also, make up for the hole left by Vincent Nogueira.