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Seventy-three percent of you responding to our poll earlier this week on who you would prefer as the Philadelphia Union’s opponent had the Chicago Fire and thanks to a 3-1 in at SeatGeek last night the Fire will be the team the Union face in the convoluted best-of-three first round. This will of course be the first time the Union participate in Major League Soccer’s ever changing carousel of playoff formats. The Fire are as good of an opponent you could expect since the Union have beaten them 1-0 and 4-0 this season but some of us who were in Chicago on July 3, 2024 have a lingering pit in our stomach from that traumatic night.

In the email today:

1. 👨‍🚒 Union to Face Chicago “Not the TV Show” Fire

The Philadelphia Union will take on the Chicago Fire in the best-of-three first round of the MLS Cup Playoffs thanks to a 3-1 win by the Fire over Orlando City in the Wild Card match on Wednesday night in Chicago.

The Union have never played the Fire in the MLS Cup Playoffs but has twice beaten them in U.S. Open Cup semifinals played in Chester: a 1-0 win in 2015 and 3-0 win in 2018.

Due to the best-of-three format MLS has been using in the playoffs since 2024, the Union will have to travel to Chicago for the second game on Nov. 1. Game three if needed would be back at Subaru Park on Nov. 8 and all subsequent post-season matches would also be played in Chester.

The Union beat the Fire in both games played during the regular season, a 1-0 in Chicago in late June and a 4-0 win at home in late August.

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🇺🇸 USWNT at the Soob

The US Women’s Team will bring a mix of youth and experience to Subaru Park for a week of training in Chester, culminating with a friendly against Portugal on Thursday, October 23. Kickoff for the match is scheduled for 7 p.m. EST. The game will also be televised on TNT, TruTV, HBO Max, and Peacock (Spanish).

The defending Olympic champions are back together for the first time since a summer friendly window that included convincing wins over Ireland, Jamaica, and China. The team earned split results against Brazil in April and also finished second in the She Believes Cup in February, defeating Colombia and Australia before falling to Japan 2-1. Still between major competitions, the upcoming friendly schedule provides coach Emma Hayes an opportunity to see many of the rising young talents before World Cup qualification begins with the Concacaf W qualifiers in November.

Read Greg Oldfield’s Preview

3.💧Water Cooler: 🔥 or 🦁 Results

3. ✨ Social Post of the Day: Stars Have Aligned

4. 🔗 Link Roundup

• Owen Boyle has Jamiro Monteiro updates and other news about former Union players in his latest DOOPing Overseas column.

• Former Philadelphia Union midfielder and Tampa Bay Rowdies legend Leo Fernandes has announced he’ll be retiring at the end of the season.

• Archbishop Wood girls will be going for their fifth straight Philadelphia Catholic League title and La Salle College HS is after their fifth title since 2019 in back-to-back finals being held at Saint Joseph’s University this Saturday. St. Hubert and Father Judge will look to play spoilers.

• The PIAA District 1 playoffs continue tonight with girls and boys teams playing.

• West Chester native Ethan Jarden is one of a trio of senior captains leading unbeaten and No. 6-ranked Dickinson in another memorable campaign.

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