Bradley Carnell insisted his Philadelphia Union players were not shying away from their winless start to their MLS season ahead of their trip to Charlotte FC this weekend. 

After finishing top of the Eastern Conference in Carnell's debut campaign and winning the Supporters' Shield, the Union have failed to win their first five league games of 2026. 

Philadelphia, along with the Columbus Crew, are the only two sides in MLS yet to taste victory this term, and Carnell acknowledged the pressure was on. 

The Union were beaten 2-1 by the Chicago Fire ahead of the international break, with Jonathan Bamba's 58th-minute strike proving decisive for Gregg Berhalter's side. 

"If this was not MLS, if this was Europe, this is a relegation-type feel," Carnell said of his team's struggles to start the season. "But I don't see anyone shying away.

"I don't see anyone not taking responsibility, I don't see anyone not taking ownership or accountability. The guys are hurting.

"It's my job to help them with the basics and kind of go down two levels just to get back to the origins of who we are and what we stand for."

But Carnell's task of turning things around does not get easier, with Dean Smith's Charlotte looking to continue their promising start to the campaign with another victory. 

Charlotte signed off for the international break with a thumping 6-1 victory over the New York Red Bulls, a result that pushed them up to fourth in the Eastern Conference. 

Idan Toklomati opened the scoring before Kerwin Vargas doubled Charlotte's lead, with Gustav Berggren's 52nd-minute red card only piling further misery on the Red Bulls.

From there, Pep Biel, Wilfried Zaha and a brace from the bench by Archie Goodwin sealed an emphatic victory, though Julian Hall did net a late consolation. 

"Yeah, it was a good day at the office," Smith told reporters. "It was a good performance, and we eventually got the goals we deserved. We also missed some chances as well.

"It can be difficult playing against a young and energetic team like they [NYRB] are. In the first half, we created some good chances on the break because of how they defended. 

"We thought that if we played a couple of passes and switched play we would get a couple of chances, and we got what we thoroughly deserved in the end."

PLAYERS TO WATCH

Charlotte – Archie Goodwin

Goodwin came on in the 75th minute and scored two goals in Charlotte's win over the Red Bulls, though he will want to play a part from the start here.

He became the eighth player in MLS history to score two goals after entering in the 75th minute or later and first since Frankie Amaya for the Red Bulls in 2023.

Philadelphia Union – Milan Iloski

Milan Iloski scored 10 goals in 14 matches with San Diego FC during the early part of the 2025 season before being traded to Philadelphia mid-season.

He has scored just three times in 14 league games for the Union, but did find the net in his last match against Chicago in March.

MATCH PREDICTION: CHARLOTTE FC WIN

Charlotte are unbeaten in four all-time home matches against Philadelphia (W2 D2), keeping clean sheets in three of the four games. The only two teams the Union have played more away matches against without ever winning are FC Dallas (nine games) and Real Salt Lake (six).

The Crown have also won 18 of their last 23 regular-season home games (D2 L3), including a 6-1 win over the Red Bulls in their last home match. The six goals were the most the club has scored in any match in their history across all competitions.

Philadelphia, meanwhile, are the sixth team in MLS history to collect no points from its first five matches of a season and the first non-expansion team to do so since Toronto FC in 2012.

That Toronto team, along with the New England Revolution in 2001 and Sporting Kansas City in 1999, are the only ones without a point after six matches of a season.

OPTA WIN PROBABILITY

Charlotte – 46%

Draw – 26.7%

Philadelphia Union – 27.3%