Philadelphia Union looks to lift Supporters' Shield Saturday with win against NYCFC at Subaru Park

"There's only 6 more points to play for, and 3 very important ones on Saturday in front of our home crowd on our last regular season match [at Subaru Park]. I'm excited to hear that hopefully it's a sell-out and to have the fans as loud as they can be for the full 90 ." - Union Head Coach Bradley Carnell It's a big weekend for sports in the City of Philadelphia. The Eagles are looking to move to a perfect 5-0 record, the Phillies play the Dodgers in the NLDS, and the Union, in their first season under head coach Bradley Carnell, have a chance to add silverware to their trophy cabinet in front of a packed crowd on Saturday night. After thrashing DC United by a score of 6-0 last weekend and dropping points from Cincinnati, Vancouver, and Inter Miami over the last week and some change, the stars have aligned themselves perfectly. With a win on Saturday night against Eastern Conference rivals NYCFC, the Philadelphia Union would lift the 2025 MLS Supporters' Shield in front of a Sold-out Subaru Park after missing the playoffs last season. "I'm excited about these types of games because you always want to measure yourself against the best teams, and we have our own storyboard and our own narrative to drive, and for us now it's another opponent. It's a rival, it's a derby, and we want to win every game that there's points [to play] for" -Bradley Carnell

How to watch Union vs NYCFC When: Saturday, October 4th @ 7:30 pmWhere: Subaru Park – Chester, PAWhere to Watch: MLS Season Pass, Apple TV+ Philadelphia Union vs NYCFC betting odds Philadelphia Union: -115New England Revolution: +270Draw: +270

https://phillysportsnetwork.com/2025/10/01/union-1-win-away-shield-2025/

Preview by the numbers

Current Record	Philadelphia Union: 19W-6D-7L, 1st in East	NYCFC: 17W-5D-10L, 3rd in East
Current Form – Last 5 MLS Games	Philadelphia Union: W, W, L, W, W	NYCFC: W, W, W, L, W
Expected Goals:	Philadelphia: 64.18 xG (4th best)	NYCFC: 53.47 xG (14th best)
Total Goals Scored:	Philadelphia Union: 56 goals scored (T-7th best)	NYCFC: 49 goals scored (11th best)
Expected Conceded Goals:	Philadelphia: 38.1 xGA (4th best)	NYCFC: 42.3 xGA (6th best)
Goals Conceded:	Philadelphia Union: 33 goals conceded (1st best)	NYCFC: 41 goals conceded (7th best)
Top Goal-Scorers:	Philadelphia: Baribo – 16Damiani – 7Uhre, Vassilev – 5	NYCFC: A. Martinez – 17Campana – 6Chancalay – 4
Top Assists Leaders:	Philadelphia Union: Wagner – 11Q. Sullivan – 9Uhre – 6	NYCFC: C. Gil – 11Wolf – 7Fernández, Perea – 3

All-time head-to-head

Union’s total record vs NYCFC	11 Wins, 2 Draws, 12 Losses
Goals Scored vs NYCFC:	38 Goals Scores
Goals Conceded vs NYCFC:	36 Goals Conceded
Last 5 Games vs NYCFC:	–L (1-0) - 4/12/2025–W (5-1) - 9/18/2024–L (2-1) - 5/15/2024–W (2-1)- 7/15/2023–W (3-1) - 5/27/2023
Top Active Goalscorer:	Uhre (PHL), Bedoya (PHL), A. Martinez (NYC) – 3

NYCFC's season so far NYCFC's 2025 season started a bit turbulent after going 5W-3D-5L through their first 13 league games and being knocked out of the Fourth Round of the US Open Cup by USL side Pittsburgh Riverhounds before the mid-way mark of May. Since then, NYCFC has put together a record of 12W-2D-5L in the following 19 MLS matches and has stormed up to third place in the Eastern Conference standings. This leaves them with the opportunity to overtake FC Cincinnati in the #2 spot before all is said and done on Decision Day. Not only is NYCFC looking to lock in a home-field advantage in the First Round of the MLS Playoffs with positive results in their final two games of the season, but Pascal Jensen's side will hope to play Spoiler on Saturday night and keep the Union from lifting the Supporters' Shield trophy in front of a packed Subaru Park. "They're really comfortable with the ball, they're feisty, they're edgy, their 1-vs-1 dynamic is excellent, and they have a real good attacking threat. We've got ways and means to go around that for sure, and we've shown it a bunch of times this year, but it's two good teams, tight margins, they don't give up too much, and they create a lot - I think it's very similar to how we are built." -Bradley Carnell.

Union's season so far It's surprising to most that the Philadelphia Union are entering Matchday 33 with one hand on the Supporters' Shield, just one season after failing to make the playoffs and parting ways with long-time Head Coach Jim Curtin. However, through consistency and an entire team playing with the same beliefs and principles, Bradley Carnell's team has shocked all of Major League Soccer with a record of 19W-6D-7L this season. Union ranks first in Goals Conceded and seventh in goals scored, and they have a squad full of players who carry a "next man up" and "never say die" mentality. Suppose the Union does end up lifting the Supporters' Shield, whether Saturday in Chester or on Decision Day in Charlotte. In that case, the Union will look back on an unbeaten month of May as one of the driving forces in that achievement, going 6W-2D-0L in 8 games across all competitions during that span. "There's never been a bit of comfort in these walls, there's always been some added driving initiatives to keep the competition, to keep it humble, to keep it on the ground and moving one step at a time and I think we've always spoken about that and we've always believed in that and the games are running out like you say, so why change anything now? There's another 3 points on the line and it's massive if we can get that and it would be awesome, but trying to filter out the noise and just to continue what we do - that's been the driving factor this week." -Bradley Carnell.

Predicted starting XI Bradley Carnell might have a few injuries against NYCFC on Saturday after last week's win down in DC. Quinn Sullivan has suffered an ACL injury and will miss the remainder of the season. Indiana Vassilev and Mikael Uhre have had limited participation in training and are questionable leading up to the match. Bardley Carnell says Jeremy Rafanello will miss out due to a hamstring injury, but Kai Wagner is "fine" and should be good to go for a big match at home. The biggest question seems to be who will play in Quinn Sullivan and potentially Indiana Vassilev's spot behind the strikers. Carnell offered both Ben Bender as an option, who he says has become more versatile in training, or maybe even Danley Jean-Jacques, who plays a bit more of an advanced role for his national team, Haiti. "Ben has added a bit of versatility to his game, where he's able to now roll out in different positions, which is really good. Through training, through necessity we've bounced him around in different positions and given him a bit of an "all around-er" mentality and he's embraced that role really well as well, so I'm excited to see Ben progressing In different positions as well." -Bradley Carnell. Formation: 4-2-2-2 GK: BlakeRB: Harriel, CB: Makhanya, CB: Glesnes, LB: WagnerCDM: Danley, CDM: LukicCAM: Bender, CAM: IloksiST: Baribo, ST: Damiani "We continue to make due with what we have, and I think every guy that we have on the roster is ready to commit to the bigger cause, and we've seen that through the last couple of weeks here." -Bradley Carnell

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