Philadelphia Union vs Toronto FC Predictions

Philadelphia Union have had a successful pre-season with five wins from their six matches, and Saturday’s hosts will once again be aiming to qualify for the MLS Cup Play-Offs. Toronto had a disappointing season by their standards finishing ninth in the Eastern Conference due to far too many draws, something they will be looking to amend in 2019.

Philadelphia Union’s final pre-season game against Ottawa Fury saw the hosts claim a 2-1 win, and after a positive run of friendly results Union will be looking to get off to a winning start in the new MLS campaign. Toronto have the 2nd leg of their Champions League tie against Panama’s Independiente to negotiate before they can begin to fully concentrate on the first game of the new season. The Canadians find themselves 4-0 down heading into the home leg, but things might have been so different if Boyd had converted his thirty-second minute penalty to level the game at 1-1, but the attackers miss and three second half goals means its a long way back for the MLS side.

The form of both teams in pre-season and how they performed in last seasons MLS leads us to believe that Philadelphia Union will claim all three points on the opening day, but we’re expecting a close and competitive ninety minutes with very small margins separating the pair at the final whistle. Philadelphia Union have won five of their six pre-season games, while Toronto have only won one of their matches since the end of the 2018 season. Both teams have scored and over 2.5 goals have been produced in five of Philadelphia Union’s last six matches, while both teams have scored in three of Toronto’s last five, so we can see both teams getting on the scoreboard on Saturday.

Experienced Mexican midfielder Marco Fabián has joined Union from German side Eintracht Frankfurt, while 32-year old defender Aurélien Collin arrives on a free transfer from New York RB. C.J. Sapong is the most high profile player to leave the club, joining Chicago Fire for £360k. Belgian centre back Laurent Ciman is the most notable signing at Toronto, joining from Ligue 1 side Dijon, while star striker Sebastian Giovinco has left the club and moved to Saudi Arabia after a successful 4-years in Canada where the Italian scored 83 goals in 142 appearances. We’re confident that Philadelphia Union will claim all three points against Toronto on the opening day of the new season, and have backed a final score of 2-1. The hosts have had a successful pre-season and outperformed their guests in the MLS last season. The visitors have lost their star striker Giovinco and will surely miss the Italians goals and creativity this season.