Teams: Philadelphia Union vs New England Revolution
Location: PPL Park
Date: March 15, 2014
Time: 4:00pm ET

2013 Series:

Last season, the Revolution won the season series 2-1 with a 2-0 win on April 28, and a 5-1 victory on August 26. Philadelphia Union’s lone win in the series was on March 16 — a 1-0 victory at home.

Last Week:

The Union played to a 1-1 tie in Portland as the Union (0-0-1, one point) nearly earned its second ever win in a season opener but Portland (0-0-1, one point) newcomer Gaston Fernandez headed home a corner kick in stoppage time to preserve a point for the Timbers. In all, the Union improved its record in season openers to 1-3-1 all-time.

As for the Revolution, they started their 2014 season with a 4-0 loss to the Houston Dynamo. Dynamo forward Will Bruin scored twice inside 13 minutes – including the opener after just 62 seconds – and from there the Revs couldn’t recover en-route to an eventual 4-0 loss in Saturday night’s season opener at BBVA Compass Stadium.

This Week:

The Revolution will try to continue their winning ways versus the Union as the Revs come to PPL Park in dire need of points after the 4-0 loss in Houston. Center back A.J. Soares said the 4-0 loss to Houston is “going to fuel us going forward,” so it will be interesting to see if the Revolution will find a way to get the win.

This is Philadelphia’s home opener, and the Union are 2-2-0 all-time in home openers. The team will look to make it 3-2-0 when New England comes into town.  One of the biggest storylines of the game will be DP Maurice Edu, who is on loan from EPL-side Stoke City and how he will play in his first game in Philadelphia.

In the tie with the Timbers last Saturday, Edu played the role of holding midfielder to perfection, distributing from the back and dropping deep to clear dangerous balls inside the box. Edu was an imposing presence as well on attack as he was the catalyst on a near goal in the 20th minute, when his run and cross into the danger zone took a deflection that found Maidana. Maidana produced a quick turn and a shot that forced a save from Ricketts.

Probable Starting XI: 

Philadelphia Union

Zack MacMath
Austin Berry
Ray Gaddis
Fabinho
Vincent Nogueira
Brian Carroll
Amobi Okugo
Maurice Edu
Cristian Omar Moidana
Jack McInerney
Sebastien Le Toux

New England

Bobby Shuttleworth
Kevin Alston
AJ Soares
José Goncalves
Kelyn Rowe
Scott Caldwell
Chris Tierney
Daigo Kobayashi
Teal Bunbury
Diego Fagundez
Patrick Michael Mullins

Prediction: 

Philadelphia 2 – New England 0

Philadelphia had a great showing versus a ruckus crowd in Portland and nearly came away with the 3 points. Now at home, the Union will give their fans a treat and defeat the Revolution 2-1 in the team’s Home Opener.

Be sure to watch Philadelphia Union against New England Revolution on Saturday, March 15 at 4pm ET on MLS Live.