Chester – Looking to maintain their momentum after a strong start to the 2025 MLS regular season, the Philadelphia Union head back on the road, this time traveling to Foxborough, Massachusetts to take on the New England Revolution.

However, Union head coach Bradley Carnell knows this hot start means nothing if the club cannot sustain it.

“There is a sort of atmosphere around the building here. There is sort of a belief in this building that, you know, we are very competitive, I would say,” Carnell said in his weekly press conference.

“But that doesn’t mean anything after two matchdays, right? We can get all the accolades now, but after two matchdays, it doesn’t mean anything. So it’s just about building a mentality, a drive, and a desire to clean the slate every Monday. We start again, we go again, and we push ourselves. Those points are in the bank. Now we start from zero again and try to move forward.”

At the same time, there are plenty of positives. A 4-2 win in Orlando on opening weekend and last week’s 4-1 victory over FC Cincinnati have set an exciting tone early. Additionally, Tai Baribo earning MLS Player of the Matchday honors for Week 2 provides another key building block for the season.

“The harder these guys are working, the more they are creating,” Carnell said of the attack. “And it’s a bit of a change in mindset because we’re defending, but we’re also creating more chances. That’s just the way we go about it. The better we defend, the more chances we’re going to create. Seeing it work so quickly into the season sets a really high standard. We set it on Monday in training. We said, ‘Guys, we’ve set the standard now, and we have to uphold it. We live and die by this every single day.’ It’s fun to see, and the relentlessness against the ball puts the guys in great spots.”

The Union hope that trend continues as they head to Gillette Stadium, a place where the club has found success over the years. The Union’s all-time road record against the Revolution stands at seven wins, five losses, and five draws, with 26 goals scored during that stretch.

Last season, the Union won one of their few games during a tough stretch in May, earning a 3-0 victory thanks to a Daniel Gazdag brace. However, as Carnell has stated in the past, he was not here last year, and this is a new season. Meanwhile, Caleb Porter’s New England squad, which currently sits with one draw and one loss, is still looking to find its rhythm after making several roster changes.

“I mean, it’s a squad that has—I think it was—18 new players,” Carnell said. “Obviously, they have a very brutal and lethal strike force in [Leonardo] Campana and [Carles] Gil. They have [Tomás] Chancalay down their right-hand side, who is one of the quickest players in the league. So in terms of transition, mitigating spaces, and covering areas to run into behind, we have to be wary of all their weapons. They don’t give much away, either. Their expected goals against is fourth-best in the league. They put a lot of pressure on the ball, so I think it’s going to be a very tight game with two very athletic teams going at each other.”

On the Union’s side, Markus Anderson remains out, Carnell confirmed. Ian Glavinovich is still recovering from a hamstring injury and is listed as day-to-day. As for Nate Harriel, Carnell said he is available for selection but is not yet ready for a full 90 minutes, as he missed all of preseason and is still rebuilding his fitness.

That likely means Frankie Westfield will make his third consecutive start on Saturday after two strong performances in the club’s first two matches. Should he play, he will have used three of six off-roster matches before needing to be added to the Union’s supplemental roster.

With Glavinovich still on the mend, Olwethu Makhanya will likely start alongside Jakob Glesnes once again.

Regardless of who is available on Saturday, Carnell has seen growth from his club defensively over the first two games.

“I think we gave away too many shots in Orlando. We tightened that up in game two. We didn’t give too many chances away—only two shots on goal against us, seven in total,” Carnell said. “Where we wanted to dominate the game, we did. I saw a hunger and a desire to play exactly that way.”

“Some of the counter-pressures that we got away from in the Orlando game, we regained in the last game, and we did really well. I think we had the best counter-pressing team on Matchday 2, and we covered the most volume, intensity, and high-speed running. Those are the standards we set.”

Many questions remain as the Union head into Saturday’s match, but one thing is certain: There is a lot of hope surrounding this club at the moment. As Tim Robbins famously said in The Shawshank Redemption, “Hope is a good thing, maybe the best of things.”

Kickoff is set for Saturday at 7:30 p.m. ET and will be available on MLS Season Pass on Apple TV. If you’re heading to the match, be sure to check out my travel article from yesterday, where I shared some places to visit while in town.

Main Photo Credit Philadelphia Union