Off the back of a first defeat of the season last time out, the Philadelphia Union will set out to secure an immediate return to winning ways when they welcome St Louis City to Subaru Park on Sunday.
While the home side head into this weekend's affair in need of a lift, the visitors will go in search of a third straight victory to continue their unbeaten start to proceedings this term.
Match preview
With a 4-2 triumph over Orlando City SC on February 23, the Philadelphia Union got their MLS campaign off to a perfect start and followed that up with wins over FC Cincinnati and New England Revolution before facing off against Nashville SC on Sunday.
Sam Surridge's 15th-minute strike saw Bradley Carnell's men go behind for the first time since Marco Pasalic's strike on the opening weekend, and after Jovan Lukic had restored parity with a second goal in as many matches, Ahmed Qasem and Hany Mukhtar netted to decide the contest.
A nine-point tally from four matches remains a very decent return, but the Union have now relinquished top spot in the Eastern Conference to Inter Miami ahead of this weekend's encounter against St Louis City.
Following a 2-2 stalemate in the only previous edition of this fixture back in 2023, Sunday's hosts will be keen to emerge triumphant in the first competitive meeting against their visitors this weekend.
Having managed just 37 points from 34 games, St Louis City finished 12th in the West last time out, but their displays over the opening four games this term suggest an intent to rectify last season's unimpressive campaign.
A pair of goalless stalemates in the first two matches meant that Olof Mellberg's men needed some time to get going, after which they have since defeated defending champions Los Angeles Galaxy and most recently Seattle Sounders.
STL were rampant in attack en route to thrashing LA Galaxy 3-0, but one effort was enough to get the job done against the Sounders as Eduard Lowen grabbed the all-important goal less than 15 minutes into Sunday's meeting at CITYPARK.
Level on points with San Diego and four points adrift of Vancouver Whitecaps, St Louis City are third in the Western Conference with the division's best defensive record of zero goals conceded across their four matches so far.
However, Sunday's visitors could really do with more attacking firepower at the top end of the pitch if they are to repeat their heroics from the 2023 campaign, which ended with top spot in the conference.
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Team News
Tai Baribo, Andre Blake, Jesus Bueno, Daniel Gazdag and Danley Jean Jacques are all currently on international duty and will not play any part for Philadelphia Union here.
The hosts will also take to the field without the services of Markus Anderson, who has been out of action since January due to an ankle problem, while Olwethu Makhanya will serve a one-game suspension.
Ian Glavinovich is closing in on returning to action from a hamstring problem, although this weekend's encounter is expected to come too soon for the Argentinian.
Unlike Philadelphia Union, St Louis City only have one player on international duty at the moment, with Tyson Pearce having been called up by the USA Under-18s.
However, the visitors have several absentees on the injury front as Rasmus Alm (hip), Jayden Reid (foot), Roman Burki (hand), Michael Wentzel (leg) and Jake Girdwood-Reich all miss out.
Philadelphia Union possible starting lineup:
Semmle; Wagner, Glesnes, Harriel, Westfield; Sullivan, Bedoya, Lukic, Donovan; Uhre, Damiani
St Louis City possible starting lineup:
Lundt; Horn, Hiebert, Kessler, Ostrak; Watts, Lowen, Durkin; Wallem, Hartel, Reichert
We say: Philadelphia Union 2-1 St Louis City
Sunday's clash sees the highest-scoring team in the MLS so far take on the meanest defence, and we are expecting a keenly contested affair.
That said, we are also backing the home side to come out on top, albeit by only a narrow margin.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
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