CHESTER – Coming off another road victory last Saturday and the first three-win start in club history, the Philadelphia Union return home to the friendly confines of Subaru Park for a rare matinee match against Nashville SC.

As the Union head into Sunday’s match, several players who have been on the mend in recent weeks appear to be on track for a full recovery, according to Philadelphia Union head coach Bradley Carnell.

“Markus Anderson is just working his way back to full fitness. Ian (Glavinovich) is training out there with us at the moment, so he could be an option for the roster,” Carnell said. “We just have to see how much of a load he can handle without putting him at risk, so we’ll assess that tomorrow.”

If Glavinovich cannot compete again, the Union must be feeling increasingly confident in Olwethu Makhanya. After an up-and-down first match, Makhanya has looked more composed in the last two competitions. Given how much of the season remains, it would seem unwise to rush Ian back.

One player not mentioned was Nathan Harriel, who, as previously discussed, is working his way back. Harriel started this past Sunday for Philadelphia Union II in their match against New England Revolution II, playing the full 90 minutes for the first time this season.

“Nate was full of energy in that game against New England, and it was on turf. He’s been training all week as well, so he’s ready to start—that’s what I can say right now.”

Whether or not Harriel starts will be interesting, considering how well Frankie Westfield has played in the first three matches. However, if Nate is fully fit, the Union should feel confident about his return to the starting 11.

As for Philadelphia’s opponent on Sunday, Nashville SC, the match will be a homecoming of sorts for Nashville head coach B.J. Callahan. Callahan grew up in New Jersey and played college soccer at Ursinus College before starting his coaching career at various Philadelphia-area colleges and universities. He joined the Philadelphia Union as a coach from 2014 to 2018, then worked with U.S. Soccer from 2019 to 2023 before becoming Nashville SC’s head coach in July 2024.

“I mean, listen, it was a space that my family and I spent 20 years in and around,” Callahan said in his weekly press conference. “It was a team I was a fan of before I was a professional soccer coach. It’s a club that gave me my first opportunity, so you’re always going to have those moments. But it’ll be nice to see people who supported me along the way when I was working through the coaching pathway. It’ll be an opportunity for me to say thank you.”

Pleasantries aside, Callahan and company would like nothing more than to come into Subaru Park, hand Philadelphia its first loss of the season, and build momentum after their 2-0 home victory over Portland last weekend.

Nashville is 1-1-1 this season, having scored and conceded two goals in three matches. While their scoring output has been low, they still have dangerous attacking threats in Hany Mukhtar and Sam Surridge, who can break down defenses in an instant. Carnell is aware of the challenge but is confident in his team’s ability to limit their chances.

“Just take away time and space, right? You just have to be brave. Sometimes, conventional methods don’t work against these guys, so you have to go about things differently—limiting time and space and being really brave.”

Defensively, Nashville has recorded two clean sheets in three matches. While it’s early in the season, they still have veteran defenders like Walker Zimmerman, Pennsylvania native Daniel Lovitz, and Andy Najar, who can both create and defend.

“We do a lot of video work. We know that we’re going to stick to our principles. We know what we want to do, but ultimately, there are little things that we change here and there about how their other teams are set up and how we’re going to break them down, and we feel confident that we can win this game,” said Union forward Chris Donovan.

When asked about Walker Zimmerman, Donovan had this to add:

“He has the whole package as a center back. He’s big, strong, tall, fast, great in the air. And now he’s a leader back there too. He’s organizing, so he makes it really tough.”

Overall, the Union are 3-2-0 at Subaru Park in MLS regular-season play against Nashville, with a 7-1 goal differential all-time in MLS regular-season competition. Yet, even after last year’s 3-0 win in Chester, these contests have always been scrappy.

“It’s two good teams playing with a lot of heart,” mentioned Donovan. “They always bring it, and we’re always going to bring it at home too. The styles of play are very similar, so it definitely sets up for some clashes.”

But this is a new year with new coaches, so who knows how this match will play out? The Union, however, are confident heading into this game, having scored eight goals in their first three matches under this new attacking style by Bradley Carnell. When asked about this mindset of the attack, Chris Donovan had this to add:

“It’s very organized. We know exactly what we want to do. We know the situations we want to put ourselves in, and we talk about the ways that we want to score goals, and so far, we’ve been doing it.”

“I love one-touch passes. I know a lot of the other forwards do too, so it’s something that previously we maybe weren’t encouraged to do because we’d rather keep the ball and slow it down. But now, we want to just get the ball, go one touch and turn, and try to get a counterattack goal.”

Should Philadelphia get points again tomorrow, it will go a long way with the looming international window that will see six players getting called up for their national and youth national teams ahead of their showdown next weekend with Carnell’s former club, St. Louis City. But Carnell did not seem too concerned about that when asked.

“We’ve been playing scrimmages behind closed doors. We’ve been challenging each other. We’ve been getting guys Union II minutes, so I do feel that we’re in a good space here with the guys that do leave, but then in a great place with players who will step up to the plate.”

Kickoff is scheduled for 2:25 p.m., and the match will be available on Apple TV for free as part of the MLS Season Pass and on Fox. If you’re heading to the stadium, remember that it is Dollar Dog Day, featuring drum striker Joey Chestnut, along with U-Serve Day.

Union II St. Patrick’s Day Home Opener

While the first team plays tomorrow, Union II will host its first home match of the season on Monday evening against MLS Next Pro rival New York Red Bulls II. The team looks to improve upon its opening-day 0-0 draw with New England Revolution II, having picked up only one point after losing in penalty kicks.

Head coach Ryan Richter knows his squad needs to do better, especially in creating more big chances, if they want to earn all three points on Monday.

“I thought there were a couple of big chances that we created, but for the positions that we were able to get into consistently, I thought we didn’t do well enough in the final action to really create big chances,” Richter said. “Whether that’s the decision-making on the final pass, the movement, or the timing of the players in the box, I thought we got into some really good areas—a lot led by our high pressing and where we were able to control most of the game—but we didn’t create enough big chances to really put them under threat.”

As for their opponent, Red Bulls II is coming off a 1-0 road victory against Atlanta United 2 and will look to continue its strong start to the 2025 MLS Next Pro season.

Last year, Union II drew with Red Bulls II—winning on penalty kicks in one match—and suffered a defeat at Subaru Park. Richter knows his club faces a tough challenge.

“Look, they’re going to be a good team, but the style they play and the shape they play out of—I don’t want to say too much—but we have to come up with a good plan of how we want to approach it defensively first,” Richter said. “That’s where we always start, and I think we have a good plan that we’re putting together now for how we want to try to attack them high and then exploit the spaces when we win the ball.”

The match is scheduled for Monday at 7 p.m. ET and will be available on Apple TV as part of the MLS Season Pass.

Main Photo Credit: Philadelphia Union