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A Philadelphia Union blog hosted by Christopher A. Vito and Matthew De George

Wednesday, September 30, 2015

Union-Sporting KC: The Open Cup final lineups

UNION (4-2-3-1)
McCarthy
Fabinho-Edu-Marquez-Gaddis
Lahoud-Nogueira
Le Toux-Maidana-Barnetta
Sapong
Bench: Blake, Vitoria, Carroll, Wenger, Ayuk, Casey, Creavalle

Sporting KC (4-3-3) 
Melia 
Sinovic-Besler-Ellis-Myers 
Feilhaber-Mustivar-Nagamur
Nemeth-Dwyer-Zusi 
Bench: Kempin, Palmer-Brown, Abdul-Salaam, Quintilla, Peterson, Lopez

- The question on all the Union fans’ minds was, as always, goalkeeping. And the answer is Andre Blake. The Jamaican’s 10-save performance vs. New England on the weekend was enough to sway Jim Curtin away from John McCarthy, who was in goal for the four games that led to the final. It’s just Blake’s fourth match with the Union this season and seventh consecutive match overall.

- The only other shock in the 18 is the exclusion of Fernando Aristeguieta. Curtin opts for extra defensive options, with Steven Vitoria preferred to Aristeguieta as the fifth international. There’s enough offensive cover with Andrew Wenger back to complement Eric Ayuk and Conor Casey.
- The rest of the Union XI is pretty standard for Curtin’s preferences. The attacking triumvirate of Tranquillo Barnetta, Vincent Nogueira and Cristian Maidana is intact. Michael Lahoud is preferred to Brian Carroll in the center of midfield.

- No surprises from Sporting KC either. Krisztian Nemeth returns to the lineup as a wing forward after three games out. Roger Espinoza’s injury strips some dynamism from the KC midfield, so it’s Paulo Nagamura out there next to Benny Feilhaber. Depriving Feilhaber space and time on the ball to distribute up top to Dom Dwyer, Nemeth and Graham Zusi will be key, and it largely falls to Lahoud to corral that. The bench, however, is fairly thin for SKC, with Jacob Peterson the biggest threat.

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1 Comments:

Anonymous Catherine said...

Are you following DFS lineups as well? What is your opinion on the recent picks from https://www.dailylineups.com/?

October 5, 2015 at 2:07 PM 

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