The Union will have another free game on Apple’s streaming platform when they host Orlando City at Subaru Park on Saturday at 7:30 p.m.
Both of the Apple broadcast crews have called Union games already this year. The English crew will be Steve Cangialosi on play-by-play and former Union local TV analyst Danny Higginbotham, who did the team’s season-opening win over Columbus. The Spanish crew will be Sammy Sadovnik and Eduardo Biscayart, veterans of Telemundo who did the March 4 loss at Inter Miami.
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The game will also be available on the radio, on 97.5 The Fanatic, with Jonathan Yardley and Lisa Roman on the call. The radio broadcast will be available as an audio overlay on the Apple stream, so you can listen to that call instead of the Apple broadcasters if you want to.
The Union are chasing their 12th straight regular-season home win, which would tie the MLS record set by the San Jose Earthquakes from August 2001 to July 2002. Both teams will be be severely shorthanded, because MLS is controversially playing through a FIFA window. Seven Union players will be away with national teams, including Dániel Gazdag and José Andrés Martiniez. On top of that, Julián Carranza is suspended and Andre Blake is hurt.
“There’s an argument to say this is probably the strongest squad they’ve ever had, so they have players that can potentially come in and have a real positive impact on the game,” Higginbotham told the Inquirer. “But you can never underestimate the understanding that the likes of [Mikael] Uhre, Gazdag and Carranza have, because at times last season, it was telepathic between the three of them.”
Orlando will be without six players gone to national teams, including star goalkeeper Pedro Gallese (Peru) and forward Facundo Torres (Uruguay). That will even the playing field in a way, albeit an undesirable one. And the home crowd in Chester will likely be fired up after last Saturday’s refereeing controversy in Montreal.
“Their home form is ridiculous, isn’t it,” Higginbotham said of the Union, “in terms of the consecutive wins, not conceding many goals. You wouldn’t be surprised in a scenario like this to see, maybe, Orlando be a little bit more pragmatic. They’ve shown that they’re a decent counter-attacking team.”
» READ MORE: Jim Curtin slams referee mishap that sparked collapse in Montreal
Saturday’s free games on Apple
Apple and MLS are offering six games free each week this year, with each team in the league expected to average 14 free games over the season.
Besides the Union-Orlando game, the other free games this weekend are Portland Timbers vs. Los Angeles Galaxy (4:30 p.m.), D.C. United vs. New England Revolution (7:30 p.m.), Inter Miami vs. Chicago Fire (7:30 p.m.), Nashville SC vs. FC Cincinnati (8:30 p.m.), and Real Salt Lake vs. St. Louis City SC (9:30 p.m.).
Portland-L.A. is the weekend’s TV game, on Fox29 and Fox Deportes.
It’s not known yet when the Union’s next free game on Apple will be. MLS has announced the schedule of free games through April 15, and the Union don’t have any. The team’s next game on traditional TV will be its Concacaf Champions League quarterfinal home game against Mexico’s Atlas on April 4, on FS1 and TUDN.
» READ MORE: How to watch Union games in the new Apple MLS Season Pass streaming package
Saturday’s MLS announcer schedule
Portland Timbers vs. Los Angeles Galaxy, 4:30 p.m. (free): Nate Bukaty and Tony Meola on Fox29 in English; Jake Zivin and Taylor Twellman on Apple in English; Pablo Ramírez and Carlos Ruiz on Apple in Spanish; Rodolfo Landeros, Alvaro Izquierdo and Martín Zuñiga on Fox Deportes in Spanish
Charlotte FC vs. New York Red Bulls, 7:30 p.m.: Eric Krakauer and Lloyd Sam in English; Sergio Ruiz and Miguel Gallardo in Spanish
Columbus Crew vs. Atlanta United, 7:30 p.m.: Kevin Egan and Kyndra de St. Aubin in English; Bruno Vain and Andrés Agulla in Spanish
D.C. United vs. New England Revolution, 7:30 p.m. (free): Ed Cohen and Lori Lindsey in English; Juan Arango and Carlos Suárez in Spanish
Inter Miami vs. Chicago Fire, 7:30 p.m. (free): Tyler Terens and Devon Kerr in English; Ramses Sandoval and Walter Roque in Spanish
Union vs. Orlando City, 7:30 p.m. (free): Steve Cangialosi and Danny Higginbotham in English; Sammy Sadovnik and Eduardo Biscayart in Spanish
Austin FC vs. Colorado Rapids, 8:30 p.m.: Adrian Healey and Cobi Jones in English; Raúl Guzmaán and Sonny Guadarrama in Spanish
Houston Dynamo vs. New York City FC, 8:30 p.m.: Mark Rogondino and Heath Pearce in English; Adrian Garcia Márquez and Francisco Pinto in Spanish
Sporting Kansas City vs. Seattle Sounders, 8:30 p.m.: Andres Cordero and Jamie Watson in English; Jose Hernandez and Pablo Mariño in Spanish
Minnesota United vs. Vancouver Whitecaps, 8:30 p.m.: Callum Williams and Calen Carr in English; Stefano Fusaro and Mariano Trujillo in Spanish; Frédéric Lord and Vincent Destouches in French
Nashville SC vs. FC Cincinnati, 8:30 p.m. (free): Tony Husband and Ross Smith in English; Moisés Linares and Jaime Macías in Spanish
Real Salt Lake vs. St. Louis City SC, 9:30 p.m. (free): Max Bretos and Brian Dunseth in English; Francisco X. Rivera and Claudio Suárez in Spanish
Los Angeles FC vs. FC Dallas, 10:30 p.m.: Keith Costigan and Maurice Edu in English; Jorge Perez-Navarro and Marcelo Balboa in Spanish
San Jose Earthquakes vs. Toronto FC, 10:30 p.m.: Chris Wittyngham and Danielle Slaton in English; Oscar Salazar and Maximiliano Cordaro in Spanish; Matt Cullen and Sébastien Le Toux in French
