Striker Tai Baribo’s return to Philadelphia might be postponed beyond D.C. United’s upcoming match against the Union on Saturday night.
Baribo, who scored 16 goals for Philadelphia in the 2025 season, transferred to D.C. (2-4-1, 7 points) in a $4 million deal during the offseason. He has netted three of the four goals D.C. has scored this season.
This includes the sole goal in D.C.’s 1-0 victory against the Union at the start of the season.
However, a thigh injury has sidelined Baribo for the last two matches—a league loss to the New England Revolution and a penalty loss to One Knoxville after a 3-3 draw in the U.S. Open Cup Round of 32 on Wednesday.
D.C. manager Rene Weiler mentioned that Baribo’s status for Saturday is uncertain.
“He trained individually, so we’ll evaluate him tomorrow,” Weiler said on Thursday. “I hope he joins the team. His presence would certainly boost us. I’m not sure if he’ll be ready for the game on Saturday, but we’ll assess him on Friday.”
With Baribo and several other key players gone, Philadelphia secured the 2025 Supporters’ Shield as the top regular-season team.
Without him, the Union have had a tough start to 2026, finally grabbing their first league win last Saturday with a 2-1 result against Montreal, who also had only one MLS victory this year.
Philadelphia is still looking for its first multi-goal scorer of the season, as Japhet Sery Larsen and Jesus Bueno each scored their first goals to spark a second-half comeback in Canada.
Meanwhile, manager Bradley Carnell acknowledged that the uncertainty around D.C.’s key player has complicated preparations.
“We always want to compete against the strongest opponents, and a D.C. United with Tai Baribo is definitely a challenge,” Carnell said on Thursday. “We are preparing as best as we can, but we can’t control everything. Whether he’s with the team or not, we’re focused on ourselves and on the team we expect to face.”