Whitecaps-Union preview

The surprising Philadelphia Union sit atop the Eastern Conference table heading into Saturday's home game against the Vancouver Whitecaps, who are in the playoff mix in the Western Conference.

The Union (7-5-4) own a four-point lead over the second-place New York Red Bulls in the Eastern Conference, with one match left before the season midway point. They are coming off a thrilling, but disconcerting, 4-3 win over the Chicago Fire. Coach Jim Curtin shuffled his lineup against the Fire, bringing Roland Alberg off the bench to help make up for the loss of Vincent Nogueira.

Alberg scored three goals in the win over the Fire, showing that Union's offensive attack remains in good shape, even without Nogueira, who recently left the team for health reasons.

"You can see when his number was called he was ready to come in," United midfielder Warren Creavalle said of Alberg. "Even in the New York game, that shows his mentality. When it's game time, he's ready to play."

But the concerning part is on defense, after Philadelphia surrendered three goals to the last-place Fire. Overall, though, after finishing as the third worst team in MLS last season, it's been a dramatic turnaround for the Union this year.

The Whitecaps (6-7-3) sit just above the red line and are among three teams with 21 points in the tight middle of the Western Conference. They advanced to the Amway Canadian Championship Final, but trail Toronto FC heading into the second leg Wednesday.

Vancouver coach Carl Robinson rested several players in the first leg of championship against Toronto on Tuesday, including key midfielder Matias Laba. Laba is expected to be responsible for marking Alberg on Saturday.

Whitecaps midfielder Pedro Morales will have the Union's attention. Morales is among the league leaders with 11 goals. Morales missed last week's 2-1 loss to New England but is expected to return along with striker Ocatvio Rivero against the Union.

This will be the seventh all-time meeting between the two clubs in an even series. Each team has won twice, lost twice and settled for two draws in six matches.