The Union aims to keep hold of pole position in the Eastern
Conference when they travel to the nation's capital this weekend. D.C United
has a couple of games in hand on their nearest rivals and needs a win to get
the points.
A week has passed since Philadelphia's lively 3-2 win at
home over Chivas USA. The Union went down 1-0 but fought back to take the 2-1
lead before an equalizer from the away side.
Then, with eight minutes remaining, Danny Mwanga came
through with a fantastic game-winning goal to hand Philadelphia sole position
of first place in the conference.
Perhaps more importantly, the victory ended a four-game
winless run for the Union, who now face a tough encounter up in Washington.
DC United settled for a 2-2 draw last Saturday at home to
the Houston Dynamo.
Leading 2-1 after a 73rd minute tally from
Charlie Davies, DCU allowed the Dynamo's Brian Ching to score with only minutes
left.
That point puts United in fifth place within the Eastern
Conference, with four wins, six draws and five losses through 15 MLS fixtures.
There's some varying value out there for this weekend's
game. Pinnacle has DCU at +119 soccer odds to win as opposed to Bookmaker which
has the hosts at +125.
However, even more disparity is evident on the visiting
side, as the Union can be backed at anywhere from +185 to +263. See the live lines
move for yourself below.
Davies and company try to stop the Union in their tracks
Mwanga's return for Philadelphia after missing one match
with a knee injury proved to be the deciding factor in the end last weekend.
That game-winner gives him a team-leading five goals now,
the Congolese striker also accounting for two assists so far this season. Just
19 years old, there's certainly a bright future ahead for this man.
While Mwanga has obviously been a huge asset for the Union,
so too have Carlos Ruiz and Sebastien Le Toux.
Ruiz is right up there as well in the goalscoring charts,
providing four goals on the season, while Le Toux has made the most of his
short stay in the City of Brotherly Love with some tremendous playmaking. He
has a team-best four assists.
DC United meanwhile has to be ecstatic with the overall
performancee of Charlie Davies.
A horrific car crash last year seems like a forgotten memory
now, with Davies netting an astonishing eight times already this season. That
figures puts him atop the MLS alongside stars Landon Donovan and Thierry Henry.
His partner up front, Chris Pontius, has also found the back
of the net with some regularity, joined by another attacking threat in veteran
Josh Wolff (three goals, three assists).
As you can see, there will be a lot of players out there
this weekend who can make an impact, especially on the offensive end.
As such, I believe whichever squad buckles down best on
defense will end up with the three points. If past results are any indication,
then the Union definitely have the advantage in that respect. They've given up
only 14 goals this season while United has allowed 27.
Nonetheless, it's been a much bigger struggle for the Union
away from home so I'm fully expecting a tight-knit contest on Saturday.
FREE Pick: DC United 1 Philadelphia 1