Sporting Kansas City vs. Philadelphia Union: 5 Things to Watch For

May 17, 2014; Chester, PA, USA; New England Revolution defender A.J. Soares (5) tackles Philadelphia Union midfielder Zach Pfeffer (27) during the second half of the game at PPL Park. The New England Revolution won the match 5-3. Mandatory Credit: John Geliebter-USA TODAY Sports

5. What kind of Philadelphia Union lineup will we see?

Now that the Philadelphia Union season is essentially over, many fans want to see a younger lineup play Saturday night. Most notably, people want to see the three homegrown players on the Union roster, Zach Pfeffer, Jimmy McLaughlin and Christhian Hernandez. A big criticism of Philadelphia has been the way they integrate, or lack thereof, their youth into the lineup.

Now that playoffs are out of reach, why not give them a chance to play against MLS competition. We saw Zach play a little bit under John Hackworth earlier in the season and he did not play all that poorly. He looked uncomfortable at times (expected being the first minutes he has seen in a long time here) but for the most part he showed very good passing and vision.

Not only the three homegrown players, players like Brian Brown may see some more minutes as he looks to prove himself to the front office (He is currently on a loan deal here). Will Pedro Ribeiro get a chance to play his more preferred position, an attack minded midfielder? He has been played as a striker, but that is not his best position.

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Two defenders that it will be interesting to see if they get a chance is Austin Berry and Richie Marquez. Berry had a few chances earlier in the season and then bad luck hit him with injuries and illness. That killed his momentum and he has not gotten a chance yet. Will Saturday be his chance to prove he can be a part of the 2015 squad?

Marquez is an interesting player as well. He spent his year with the Harrisburg City Islanders and impressed a lot of people there. Now their season is over so will he get a shot at the Union lineup? I think he deserves a chance in these last two games.

Playing a lot of these younger guys will give the Union front office a chance to see what they have going into the offseason and 2015. They know what they have with the consistent starting 11. This could be the chance to try out these younger players without sacrificing a meaningful game.