Union vs LAFC: Preview, projected lineups, and how to watch

It’s time to put last week’s loss behind us and move on to this weekend’s first national TV game for the Union and its a late one. The U will be on the west coast taking on LAFC inside the Banc of California Stadium. 

For the Union, if it wasn’t for tired legs and a few missteps last week they would have probably only lost to FC Dallas 1-0. As seen below in the projected lineups, I’d like to see Jim Curtin stick with the starters from last week. The two surprises thrown at Union fans (Jakob Glesnes for Jake Elliott and Warren Creavalle at the No. 6) seemed to work well. 

The main issue the U will have Sunday night and something Curtin talked about at his weekly presser, is finding the key to stopping LAFC’s Carlos Vela. When Curtin was asked that exact question, he responded with, “It won’t be Carlos Vela versus Matt Real or whoever he’s 1v1 against, it’s versus the entire team and us doing a good job to first limit the amount of touches he gets on the ball but respecting he is the MVP of this league for a reason.”

In the short time that LAFC have been around the Union have never won a game against them. In 2018 they lost 4-1 in LA, 2019 saw them draw 1-1 in Chester. 

There is another key storyline to follow, that is the very slim chance the Union’s game will be impacted by the coronavirus outbreak. Right now the county is under a health emergency, and at any point the county health director may ask for “modifications at large public events.” This is something soccer fans are already seeing as Italy announced just this week it was banning fans for up to a month from soccer games. If anything was to happen between now and Sunday we will let you know. 

Starting Lineups

Philadelphia Union projected lineup: Andre Blake; Raymon Gaddis, Jakob Glesnes, Mark McKenzie, Matthew Real; Warren Creavalle, Alejandro Bedoya, Jamiro Monteiro, Brenden Aaronson; Sergio Santos, Kacper Przybylko 

LAFC projected lineup: Kenneth Vermeer; Tristan Blackmon, Eddie Segura, Jordan Harvey, Mohamed El-Munir; Francisco Ginella, Jose Cifuentes, Bryce Duke; Brian Rodriguez, Adrien Perez, Carlos Vela

How to watch at home
Where: Banc of California Stadium, Los Angeles, California 
When: 10:30 p.m. ET, Sunday, March 8th, 2020
TV: FS1, 
Streaming: FOX Sports App, FuboTV (affiliate link)*

Note: The Union will not be streaming this weekend’s game on their site. As announced they will only be streaming non nationally televised games. 

Places to Watch in the Philadelphia Area

Places to Watch Union at LAFC

*Brotherly Game has affiliate partnerships. These do not influence editorial content, though Brotherly Game and SB Nation may earn commissions for products purchased via affiliate links. For more information, see our guiding principles.