In each of the past two seasons, the Philadelphia Union and New York City Football Club met in the Eastern Conference finals.

Based on current results, both clubs have some work to do to make their playoff positioning more comfortable heading into Saturday night’s clash at New York.

The Union (6-4-3, 21 points) scored three times in a 12-minute span in the second half to rally for a 3-1 victory over NYCFC in last season’s Eastern Conference final on Oct. 30. Two years ago, NYCFC registered a 2-1 victory at Philadelphia to advance to the MLS Cup final after finishing fourth in the regular season.

The winner of each conference-final game went on to win the MLS Cup title.

So far this season, the Union find themselves in better standing in pursuit of the playoffs.

Philadelphia starts this week in fifth place and three points ahead of ninth-place Charlotte. The Union are 4-0-2 during a six-game unbeaten streak in MLS play that has seen them score 12 goals. Daniel Gazdag scored two goals and Julian Carranza also tallied last week in a 3-0 win over the New England Revolution.

“I give the players a ton of credit for quietly going 4-0-1 in that block of five games that I talked a lot about,” Philadelphia coach Jim Curtin said. “We now start a new set of five games with some difficult road tests and that starts with New York City — always a hard place to go.”

NYCFC (4-5-4, 16 points) are 0-3-1 during a four-game winless skid in MLS play that continued with a 1-1 draw at Orlando on May 17. Gabe Segal scored in the 89th minute to salvage a point.

NYCFC are playing a home game for the time since their 3-1 win over FC Dallas on April 22. They are 6-0-2 in their last eight MLS home matches.

“We have an opportunity now, starting with a difficult one against Philadelphia to make sure we put some points on the board,” NYCFC coach Nick Cushing said.

–Field Level Media

Hoping to prevent a losing streak from getting out of hand, the New England Revolution will return to the comforts of home to face the Chicago Fire on Saturday in Foxborough, Mass.

The Revolution (7-3-3, 24 points) have lost two straight MLS matches and three consecutive across all competitions, starting with a surprise 1-0 setback to the Pittsburgh Riverhounds on May 9 in the U.S. Open Cup. New England has settled into third place in the Eastern Conference due to its slide.

Head coach Bruce Arena bemoaned the Revolution allowing “sloppy” goals in their recent 3-0 loss to the Philadelphia Union and a 2-1 setback before that to Inter Miami, with both coming on the road.

“We need to be better defensively,” Arena said. “We need to be a little bit better in the attacking end of the field, as well. … We can be better everywhere on the field.”

Midfielder Carles Gil, who leads the team with seven goal contributions (three goals, four assists), exited early last week with an undisclosed injury but is expected to be available against Chicago, according to Arena. Forward Gustavo Bou (knee) and defender Brandon Bye (shoulder) were ruled out.

They’ll face an opponent in the Fire (3-4-6, 15 points) who occupy the second-to-last spot in the Eastern standings but have gone 3-1-1 in their past five matches across all competitions. In addition to two U.S. Open Cup victories, the Fire beat a offensive-minded St. Louis City 1-0 in MLS play May 13.

Most recently, Chicago defeated Austin FC 2-0 on the road Wednesday in U.S. Open Cup play, with Rafael Czichos and Kacper Przybylko providing the goals.

The Fire’s surge coincides with their decision to dismiss former coach Ezra Hendrickson on May 8. Veteran coach Frank Klopas has served as interim coach ever since.

“I think in every match that they played, you saw everyone, that there’s been a huge commitment, a big change in the mentality, the way they’ve approached the game and the attitude with what they put forth,” Klopas told CBS 2 in Chicago.

Kei Kamara has netted a team-high four goals. Brian Gutierrez leads Chicago with four assists.

The Revolution are 3-0-5 in their last eight games against the Fire, who last beat New England on May 8, 2019.

–Field Level Media

Offense has been on the uptick for Atlanta United and Orlando City SC, but that has not factored into enough victories for either team.

They will face each other Saturday night in Orlando.

Orlando City (5-4-4, 19 points) have hit a rough patch in May, winning just once. The club went 1-1-2 in MLS play, although last Saturday’s 3-1 road victory against Inter Miami generated a season-high goal total.

“The group is feeling very proud and happy for the result in Miami,” Orlando City coach Oscar Pareja said. “Right now, it just gives us momentum we want to continue with.”

Atlanta (6-4-4, 22 points) has scored a total of seven goals in its last two games, while going 1-0-1in those outings. Atlanta recorded a 3-3 draw with host Chicago last Saturday.

“I feel like we deserve more,” Atlanta forward Machop Chol said. “It’s kind of been a trend of us not being able to close out games. It’s just trying to find a way to make sure we can secure points.”

Orlando’s quest is to make sure good stretches translate into desired results.

“We’re aiming for that magical word we’re always talking about and that’s ‘consistency,'” Pareja said. “We have had very good performances with bad results before. We’re still away from our best. We have to continue with what we showed in Miami.”

One of Orlando’s goals last weekend came from Rafael Santos, who scored in MLS play for the first time.

“We’re just going to keep moving forward and hopefully it’s the first of many,” Santos said.

Meanwhile, Orlando forward Ercan Kara has scored in three consecutive matches.

“They actually look for him in the build up a lot,” Atlanta coach Gonzalo Pineda said. “So, we just need to play our normal game, where we try to be good in possession.”

Kara’s four goals this season have him tied with rookie Duncan McGuire for the team lead.

Yet Orlando City SC will be missing some of their firepower as forward Gaston Gonzalez left last week’s game in Miami with a hamstring injury. He won’t be ready to play against Atlanta.

Atlanta’s scoring has been noticed by Orlando.

“They have guys up front with crafty things and some with speed (that) we need to control,” Pareja said. “(Atlanta) is a team as well that is looking for their best form just like many other teams in the league, including us.”

Under Pareja, Orlando has won just three times in nine previous matchups with Atlanta.

–Field Level Media