The Philadelphia Union welcome their bitter rivals, the New York Red Bulls, to Talen Energy Stadium on Wednesday night ahead of their 2016 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup Round of 16 clash.
The two teams have somewhat different fortunes as of late, despite losing two of their last five league matches, Philadelphia sits atop the Eastern Conference, whereas the Red Bulls, winners of three of their last five matches sit three points back in third, despite having lost six of their opening ten matches.
A fixture with history
The regional foes have faced each other fiercely over the six years of Philadelphia's existence, but the matches haven't been exclusively league based, with the two sides having faced off on two occasions in the Open Cup, both in Harrison. The first match saw New York dump Philadelphia out of the 2010 edition of the Open Cup with a 2-1 win which saw two goals from Conor Chinn as well as a consolation goal from Philadelphia's Sebastian Le Toux who would go on to be the top scorer all-time in the tournament. The other match was last year's quarterfinal, a 1-1 draw with goals from Lloyd Sam and Eric Ayuk that saw the Union emerge victorious on penalties, with the much criticized Fernando Aristeguieta scoring the winning penalty. In league play, Philadelphia is 5-9-2 having lost their penultimate game of last season 4-1 to the Red Bulls in a season in which New York claimed their first-ever Supporters' Shield. This match will be the first time the two play each other in Chester in the Open Cup.
Notable absences
Both Philadelphia and New York will be without a number of key players due to injury. Philadelphia captain and midfielder Maurice Edu continues his recovery from a fractured tibia injury that has seen him miss the entire season so far, whereas striker C.J. Sapong also continues his recovery from an ankle injury that has seen him miss the last several matches.
As for New York, they remain without the services of key defenders Damien Perrinelle and Kemar Lawrence who are suffering from a left knee injury and a groin injury respectively. Midfielders Shaun Wright-Phillips and Homegrown Player, Tyler Adams also remain out with a hamstring injury and a concussion.
Key players
For Philadelphia, the focus falls on Richie Marquez, the leader in an especially young Philadelphia defense who will look to help the Union stop the leakage that's seen the team concede ten goals in their last four matches.
Offensively, the onus is on Ronald Alberg to get the goals for a Philadelphia side that has had to readjust following the departure of Vincent Nogueira, injury to Sapong, and the less than stellar performances of rookie Fabian Herbers.
As for New York, the focus is on Sacha Kljestan. The US Men's national team player has notched four assists in his last five games for a league-leading ten assists so far this season and will be looking to supply equally dangerous teammates Bradley Wright-Phillips and Mike Grella.
Defensively, Sal Zizzo and Connor Lade are likely to have their hands full with the excellent and ever dangerous Philadelphia wingers Chris Pontius and Ilsinho.
Finally, expect John McCarthy to start in goal for Philadelphia. McCarthy, the hero of last year's Open Cup run is likely to be given the reins for the tournament once more despite playing nearly exclusively for Philadelphia owned USL side, Bethlehem Steel this season.