Our prediction for this MLS match:
Thursday’s football game at BMO Field pits together Toronto and Philadelphia Union, the two teams who sit in the opposite halves of the table. Toronto are having a season to forget, and seeing that they missed out on a place in the MLS playoffs, home win should not be considered. All Achara, Akinola, Dwyer, Endoh, Gonzalez, and Priso-Mbongue are sidelined with injuries. The U’s, on the other hand, aim to retain second position in the Eastern Conference.
Philadelphia did well to beat Nashville thanks to Kacper Przybylko’s goal at the weekend, and seeing that Toronto have nothing to play for in Thursday’s clash, we believe that the visitors are going to give fans yet another reason for celebration. Both Burke and Ilson remain in the recovery room, but there are no suspended players in the away team.
Highlighted Player (Laurent Ciman):
Laurent Ciman is a Belgium international who plays for Montreal Impact in Major League Soccer. The defender who was born in Farciennes on August 5, 1985 played for Charleroi from 2004 to 2008 and he made no less than 85 league appearances for the Belgian outfit.
During the 2007/2008 season he was on Club Brugge’s radar and in the summer of 2008 he joined the Blauw-Zwart. After ending his loan spell with Kortijk Laurent Ciman joined fellow Belgian club Standard Liege and he spent five seasons at Stade Maurice Dufrasne. On January 22, 2015 the defender signed a three-year contract with MLS club Montreal Impact and he has been playing for the Canadian outfit ever since.
Ciman represented Belgium at the 2008 Olympics and he did remarkably well to make Belgium 2014 FIFA World Cup squad. However, he was unused at the showpiece tournament in Brazil. The Montreal Impact footballer scored his first ever goal for Belgium in June, 2016 in a 3-2 victory over Norway.
Highlighted Team (Philadelphia Union):
Based in Chester, Pennsylvania, Philadelphia Union is an American soccer club that compete in Major League Soccer. The U have been participating in MLS since 2010, but they have yet to win the domestic trophy. Philadelphia welcome their opponents at Talen Energy Stadium, the venue that was opened on June 27, 2010 and current capacity of the stadium is 18.500.
The U made it to the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup final on two occasions (2014, 2015), but they were beaten by Seattle Sounders and Sporting Kansas City respectively in the title games. The likes of D.C. United and New York Red Bulls are regarded as the club’s fiercest rivals, but they share a rivalry with Seattle Sounders as well.
Philadelphia’s colors are navy blue and gold, but they wear white shirts and white socks when playing on the road. USA international Freddy Adu is one of the most notable footballers who player for the U in the past. The former Benfica man scored seven goals in 37 appearances for Philadelphia Union in MLS.