CHESTER — Once upon a time, consecutive Union losses weren’t a collective cause for extreme concern. They were just kind of the way things worked in Chester. The evolution makes back-to-back home losses to Real Salt Lake and Seattle seem an anachronism this week. Not since 2017 – the last season in which the Union failed to make the MLS playoffs – have they dropped three league games in a row, something the club did 11 times in its first eight seasons. The task Saturday night in Washington is to keep that streak going in a visit to D.C. United (7:30 p.m., AppleTV). “We recognize at home, it’s rare that we get beat twice like we did,” manager Jim Curtin said Friday. “And I expect the group to have a strong response against D.C. United.” The losses inspire varied conclusions. The 2-1 setback to RSL last Saturday came with the Union having the better of play, beaten in the 90th minute by a wondergoal from left back Alex Katranis. They showed character in fighting back from 3-0 down to hit the back of the net three times Tuesday against the Sounders, only for the third to be disallowed in a 3-2 loss. They also had what Curtin called “an inexcusable half of soccer” to put themselves in that predicament. It’s early in the season, but not that early. The Union have suffered injuries, but few long-term issues on par with others in the league. So is it time to be concerned about what was this time last week was MLS’s only remaining unbeaten team? Not for the coach. “When all of our guys are healthy and in good form, we have a team that can beat anybody,” Curtin said. “The message from the coach though, as always, we can also see the other side: If we’re not on our game, all 11 guys, we can lose to anybody as well in this league. That’s the beauty of MLS and the way that our league is set up.” Continuity has eluded them early. A CONCACAF Champions Cup campaign, which ended in embarrassment at the hands of finalist Pachuca, took a toll. A series of injuries to Andre Blake has compromised chemistry at the back. The Union have conceded first in six of nine MLS games, and their 14 goals allowed is tied for 15th in MLS, middle-of-the-road defense that their attacking talent can’t overcome. Blake will miss the DC trip with soreness in his knee, the third separate injury this season, to go with a concussion and an adductor strain. Oliver Semmle will start, with Andrew Rick as the backup. Leon Flach, whose departure to first a sports hernia and then a preseason pectoral injury coincided with a precipitous decline in defensive metrics, could be in line for his first minutes of the season. D.C. (3-3-4, 13 points) sits just behind the Union in the standings. Former Red Bulls coach Troy Lesesne has implemented new ideas that have helped D.C. start strong, and Christian Benteke has eight goals, the former Belgian international banging them in with the kind of regularity the team envisioned. Saturday is the kind of game that the Union typically respond well to – playing away from home, with the opponent likely dictating play, in the face of adversity. At some point, Curtin would love if they could mount that kind of response without having to trail by a goal or three first. But the coach also understands how they’ve gotten to a point where consecutive losses can seem so anomalous. It’s happened by Curtin trusting his guys to know which efforts are subpar, what adjustments need to be made and what level needs to be brought. It’s going to take more than two losses for him to change that default. “I lean more toward staying out of the way,” Curtin said. “We’ve been consistent for a long time, because we have really good players and really talented guys. Obviously, when you lose two in a row, which doesn’t happen often for us, it’s what ultimately as a head coach you guard against, a letdown. When you lose one, how do you respond? And I think consistently now for five, six years, we’ve been really, really good about that. That needs to continue.”