CHESTER, Pa. — In the slew of early-season failures for the Union, two in particular stood out. One has been rectified in recent weeks, and that improvement could go a long way toward fixing the second. The Union have turned the opening segments of games from a liability to an asset, part of why they start the weekend in playoff position in the Eastern Conference for the first time in three months. Replicating that Sunday could help them banish their home-field bugaboo in a must-have match with D.C. United (6 p.m., FS1). It’s all there for the Union (8-12-9, 33 points). They enter the weekend ninth in the East, occupying the final playoff spot. They’re level on record with 10th-place D.C., though the Union are 19 goals ahead on the first relevant tiebreaker of goal differential. The Union have D.C. and 11th-place Atlanta United in back-to-back weekends in Chester. Take care of business and separation is theirs. It shouldn’t be a challenge, for a team that lost one home game in 2022 and 2023 combined and whose seven home losses this year (3-7-4) matches their five-season total from 2019-23 (52-7-18). Starting quickly is part of what they haven’t done at home. Knowing what it takes to effectively play spoiler on the road, the Union have to figure out how to prosper on the other side of that equation. “The important thing is to take the confidence that we had in those games and those performances, even the Miami performance, and let’s bring that to this stadium,” manager Jim Curtin said Saturday. “There’s no doubt that there is more pressure at home to the home team, because you have to make the game. And that’s on us to improve and finish strong the rest of the season.” In the season’s first 16 games, they were outscored 4-2 in the first 15 minutes of games and 7-4 in the first 30. They allowed the first goal to the opposition in 11 of the first 16 games in all competitions. Early deficits tend to snowball on the Union. Forced to chase the game, clubs sit numbers behind the ball and dare the Union to break them down. Without the ball, the Union have fewer chances to score in transition. Without Andre Blake in goal, the Union were for long stretches more vulnerable in transition. But the tide has turned. In their last 13 MLS games, the Union have outscored opponents 5-0 in the first 15 minutes of games and 9-4 in the first 30. They’ve scored first in six of the last seven contests. While they’re only 4-3 in those games, 12 points is a bounty by the decidedly mediocre standards of the lower-middle ranks of the chasing pack in the East. “I think it’s intensity, because in our mind, you need all the time to start the game strong, especially in away games,” said forward Tai Baribo, who has 15 goals in his last 17 games in all competitions. “Of course at home, but with the fans here, you have the support all the game. But the away games, you need to start fast, and you need to let them know that we are here to take the points.” “I think it’s intensity,” Curtin said. “We’ve been on the road a lot where, if you don’t start in the first 15 minutes, you’re going to get the opponent’s best punch in that first 15, you’d better be able to stand up to it and punch back. And I think that we’ve done that more consistently in this stage of the season.” That intensity gap tracks the other albatross. In MLS, the Union rank seventh with 20 points away from home. At home, however, their 13 points is next-to-last in MLS, though with a plus-1 goal differential, thanks to six one-goal losses. The Union’s steeliness on the road has earned them a chance to solidify their playoff positioning at home. Three of their last five games are at Subaru Park. Win all three and they’re almost certainly in the postseason, come what may at Orlando and Columbus. Win all three and get a result somewhere else and they could avoid the 8/9 play-in game and the pitiable reward that is Inter Miami for the winner. This week, the Union get Blake back after he’s missed the last two games with a hamstring injury. Danley Jean Jacques (ankle) is also available though not quite at full strength. Jack Elliott returns from suspension in Wednesday’s 5-1 win over New York City FC to provide two physical center backs to counter the threat of D.C.’s Christian Benteke, MLS’s Golden Boot leader with 19 goals.