Sunday evening sees another installment of Union II action in the MLS Next Pro 2026 season, and this time, on a quick turnaround from Wednesday night's game, Ryan Richter's men will host Columbus Crew 2 as they look to regain some form.
Union II fell to Revolution II in midweek MLS Next Pro action.
Image Provided / Philadelphia Union II
Last time out, Union II, playing their first home game at their temporary new home, WSFS Bank Sportsplex, hosted New England Revolution II, a game that unfortunately continued Union II's bad run of form. Coach Richter made a number of changes to his side after the loss to bitter rivals RBNY II, but we didn't get to see if those changes would have made a change to Union II's run of form lately, as after 30 minutes, striker Sal Olivas was sent off for his 2nd yellow card of the game.
Ryan Richter's side fought bravely throughout the remaining hour with a man disadvantage and even managed to go close a few times themselves in grabbing a goal on the break, but Pierce Holbrook was finally beaten in the Union II net just four minutes from time, after the goalkeeper set a new career high of seven saves during the game.
Philadelphia Union II played its first-ever home match at the WSFS Bank Sportsplex against New England Revolution II.
Image Provided / Philadelphia Union II
Coach Richter will have more selection nightmares to deal with going into this short break game on Sunday evening, as with Eddy Davis out injured, and now his replacement from the last game, Sal Olivas, being suspended, Coach Richter may have to turn to academy players like Jon Ruf or Theo Reed to step up and lead the line with Malik Jakupovic.
Another selection nightmare the Union II head coach faces is replacing Willyam Ferreira, who was taken off injured and required the cart to be removed from the field. Nehan Hasan and Tyler Gladstone have played their part this season and would be the likely replacements, but missing Ferreira for the foreseeable future is a big blow.
Andrew Craig made his first start for Ryan Richter's side in the loss to New England and impressed everyone, including Coach Richter himself. Craig deserves another start in this game on Sunday, and it will likely be one of his last chances to make a start for a little while, as the Union academy teams will head off to Salt Lake City soon for the MLS Next Cup.
After going a man down early, Philadelphia Union II couldn't find a goal against New England Revolution II.
Image Provided / Philadelphia Union II
The visitors to the WSFS Bank Sportsplex on Sunday, Columbus Crew 2, head into this matchup above Union II in the standings and on the back of a 2-1 loss to FC Cincinnati 2 in their last game out. Cincy took the lead just before the half-hour mark, but Crew 2 managed to equalize just five minutes later. Cincy grabbed the win 30 minutes from the final whistle, and the Columbus Crew missed a big chance to climb closer to the top of the standings.
Sunday's game between these two sides will be the first meeting of the season; they met three times last season, with Union II winning all three games by 3-0, 3-1, and 3-1 scores. Coach Richter will be looking to extend his impressive record against the visitors this season.
The game is scheduled to kick off at 3:00 pm ET at the WSFS Bank Sportsplex, with tickets still available online. If you can't make it down to the ground, you'll still be able to watch the action as the game will be streamed worldwide, for free, on both the MLS Next Pro website and the OneFootball platform.
MORE: Philadelphia Union is winless at home through the World Cup break after a draw vs Columbus.
