Union try to cool off Altidore

CHESTER >> The objective at the business end of the MLS season often involves minimizing uncertainty.

The overarching aim for the Philadelphia Union in Saturday’s trip to Toronto and beyond is to solidify their nearly guaranteed chance of qualifying for the MLS Cup playoffs, removing that pesky caveat and turning a percentage in the high 90s to 100.

The proximal dose of mystery in that longer goal stands all of 5-foot-4 but looms like a fearsome, fastmoving river between the Union and three points.

Sebastian Giovinco, the reigning MLS MVP, was listed by his coach Greg Vanney as “very questionable” for Saturday’s affair, likely to miss a third straight game with an adductor strain.

He joins a long list of Toronto attackers on the sidelines. Jay Chapman’s knee will exceed the three weeks originally prescribed to recuperate. Tosaint Ricketts’ groin will keep him out, and Armando Cooper was suspended by Disciplinary Committee decree for violent conduct in the Reds’ 3-3 draw with New York Red Bulls last week.

Those absences resolve the Union’s defensive focus to a single, known point: Jozy Altidore. But that doesn’t necessarily make the American any easier to rein in.

“He’s on fire right now,” Union manager Jim Curtin said Wednesday. “Everything he’s touching is going in, whether it’s from free kicks, whether it’s in the box, whether it’s from distance. He’s strong, he’s confident, he’s a top American forward. He’s our top guy. And when he’s scoring goals, he’s tough to stop.”

The combination of Altidore and Giovinco gave the Union (11-11-8, 41 points) fits in the Reds’ 3-1 trampling at Talen Energy Stadium Aug. 20. Altidore has scored eight goals in the last nine games after a midseason leg injury, and he’s coming off two goals against his former team last week.

In the last encounter, TFC’s dynamic duo ran rampant against the center back pairing of Ken Tribbett and Richie Marquez, which will be reprised with Josh Yaro suspended for a red card incurred in the loss to Portland.

The Union have struggled mightily against the new incarnation of TFC (13-8-8, 47 points). They’ve never beaten a playoff-positioned Toronto side, dropping the last four meetings. They once feasted on the Reds, who failed to qualify for the playoffs in each of their first eight seasons, with a seven-game unbeaten streak through the end of 2013. The East leaders can clinch a playoff spot with a win Saturday or if the perpetual cycle of parity in the lower dregs of the East persists for another week.

The Union, meanwhile, are on the second prong of a three-game road swing that culminates at Red Bull Arena next week. With two home games to finish out the schedule, the Union are by no means in desperation mode, their early-season success earning a position of relative strength.

That cushion could sustain them until they return to the safety of home environs. But a result to break the suspended animation of their placement in the table before the visit from Orlando in three weeks would assuage the apprehension of a fanbase that’s lacked playoff soccer for a half decade.

“The good news is that we’ve earned all 41 points, none of them have been given to us,” Curtin said. “Would we like to have a couple more? Absolutely. But at the same time we’ve set ourselves up in a very good position right now. We control our out destiny. That’s a good position to be in.”