Image courtesy of Philadelphia Union II
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Sunday night marks MLS Next Pro match day for Marlon Leblanc’s Union II, who will travel to Ohio to take on the Columbus Crew 2 at the end of July.
Union II takes on Columbus II
Marlon Leblanc’s Union were looking to bounce back from a late loss to NYCFC II last week. Eddie Davis scored his 10th goal of the season to give Union II a 1-0 lead, but the home team scored two goals with eight minutes left to hand Union II its first loss in four games.
This loss puts Marlon LeBlanc’s Union II in danger of losing the top spot. Chicago and Cincinnati are chasing them, but after Cincinnati lost the next day, Union II still has a three-point lead over them and Chicago. They will want to win this game and protect that lead.
Other than young forward David Vázquez being with the US U-20 team, there should be no issues or changes to the lineup from their last game, and Andrew Lik played in the NYCFC II match despite remaining with the senior team.
I mentioned earlier that Cincinnati, who are only three points behind Union II for first place, lost last weekend when they could have tied the score. Union II should be thankful for their opponent in this game. Columbus Crew II just beat Cincinnati II 6-1, a win that extended Columbus’ unbeaten streak to seven games, with many goals scored in those games. The player Union II’s defensemen will be keeping an eye on in this game is Chase Adams. He scored two goals off the bench against Cincinnati and leads the team in points this season with seven.
Image courtesy of Philadelphia Union
Columbus currently sits in fifth place, eight points behind head coach Marlon LeBlanc’s squad, and a win against Union II in this game would greatly improve their chances of jumping to the top of the Eastern Conference standings. These two teams have already met once this season, with CJ Olney and Sal Olivas playing all three games in a 3-1 victory for Columbus, but interestingly, that was also the last game Columbus lost.
The match is scheduled to kick off at 6pm ET and will be streamed on Apple TV with an active MLS Season Pass subscription.
Image courtesy of Philadelphia Union II
