DC United will try to climb back into a playoff position in the Eastern Conference when they travel to Soldier Field to face the Chicago Fire in MLS action on Wednesday.
The Black-and-Red dropped a narrow 2-1 decision to the Philadelphia Union this past weekend, while the Fire saw their three-game unbeaten streak snapped with a 5-1 loss to Nashville SC.
Match preview
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With the team's confidence growing on the back of a three-match unbeaten run, Chicago conceded five goals against Nashville, a team renowned for their defensive capabilities.
It was as bad of a debut as Frank Klopas could have imagined, as his side were already three goals behind in the first 16 minutes on Saturday, in their worst regular-season defeat since dropping a 4-0 decision to Atlanta United in their third match of 2017.
Manager Raphael Wicky will not be on the sidelines for their match on Wednesday as he is tending to a personal family situation, so Klopas will have many tactical adjustments to make in order to get this team back on the right path.
Before their match over the weekend, it looked like the Fire were starting to come together, scoring three goals in three successive games and earning points against some strong sides like the Philadelphia Union and Orlando City SC.
The most positive sign for this team is that they are starting to get contributions at every position, with seven different players getting their name on the scoresheet over their previous four matches.
Chicago have also been vastly improved on home soil, having gone unbeaten over their last three fixtures, and scoring nine goals, so they will hope that they can carry that confidence into their upcoming two-game homestand.
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It has been an up and down opening 13 games for DC United so far in their 2021 campaign, currently sitting in ninth place in the Eastern Conference, just a point behind New York City FC for the final playoff spot.
After demolishing Toronto FC 7-1 to start off the month of July, they conceded in the early and late stages versus the Union, squandering some more points.
The Black-and-Red have embraced the high-pressing style from first-year manager Hernan Losada, but that aggressive approach cost them a point on Saturday as a relatively simple long ball from Union midfielder, Leon Flach found Sergio Santos in acres of space before he fed Kacper Przybylko for the winning goal.
That was a match in which DC should have earned at least a point, as they had more possession than Philly (56%), while also being able to throw them out of their rhythm as the Union only had a pass accuracy of 71%.
DC are winless in their last six visits to Soldier Field, but they pulled out a 1-0 victory against the Fire at Audi Field earlier this year.
Wednesday will be the first of three games in 10 days for DC United, two of which will be against non-playoff teams at the moment (Chicago and FC Cincinnati).
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Team News
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Winger Stanislav Ivanov could be eligible to make his Chicago debut at long last after missing their first 13 games after undergoing knee surgery, but defender Carlos Teran is out with a right shin problem and goalkeeper Kenneth Kronholm is still nursing a right knee problem.
The Fire made one change in defence against Nashville with Wyatt Omsberg replacing Jonathan Bornstein, but they will not have Johan Kappelhof available following his expulsion in the 14th minute against Nashville.
Francisco Calvo remains on international duty at the Gold Cup with Costa Rica, midfielder Fabian Herbers made his 100th regular season appearance over the weekend and goalkeeper Bobby Shuttleworth has been very busy, making 31 saves in his last five matches.
Defender Steve Birnbaum made his first MLS appearance since October 2020, while Tony Alfaro played alongside him in the DC United back three versus Nashville, earning his first start since May 23.
Chris Odoi-Atsem was on the matchday roster for the first time this year after returning from injury, although he did not see the field on Saturday.
Yamil Asad scored the lone DC goal over the weekend, his second of the season, while Donovan Pines and Paul Arriola are with the US national team at the Gold Cup, although Arriola was injured in their opening fixture against Haiti.
Chicago Fire possible starting lineup:
Shuttleworth; Omsberg, Sekulic, Bornstein; Navarro, Herbers, Stojanovic, Pineda; Aliseda, Frankowski; Beric
DC United possible starting lineup:
Hamid; Alfaro, Brillant, Najar; Mora, Moreno, Martins, Asad; Reyna, Yow, Perez
We say: Chicago Fire 2-1 DC United
The Fire have started to thrive at home, playing their best three games of the season at Soldier Field, and they will be keen to make a point that their defeat on Saturday was just a temporary setback.
DC United are winless in their last three fixtures away from home, and they have tended to crumble in the late stages on the road, conceding the winning goal with less than 10 minutes to play in their previous two defeats.
Top tip
Joel Lefevre
Data Analysis
Our analysis of all available data, including recent performances and player stats up until an hour before kickoff, suggested the most likely outcome of this match was a Chicago Fire win with a probability of 39.15%. A win for DC United had a probability of 35% and a draw had a probability of 25.8%.
The most likely scoreline for a Chicago Fire win was 1-0 with a probability of 9.44%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 2-1 (8.53%) and 2-0 (6.56%). The likeliest DC United win was 0-1 (8.82%), while for a drawn scoreline it was 1-1 (12.26%). The actual scoreline of 2-2 was predicted with a 5.5% likelihood.
