Aiming to make it back-to-back victories and strengthen their standing in the playoff spots of the Major League Soccer Eastern Conference, Columbus Crew will travel to Soldier Field to take on Chicago Fire on Sunday.
The visitors broke into the top seven with a victory over CF Montreal in midweek, while their hosts sit 14th in the midst of a dismal run of form.
Match preview
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Chicago Fire head back to Soldier Field on Saturday with the aim of kickstarting their MLS campaign, having endured a poor start thus far in their bid to earn a playoff spot in the Eastern Conference for the first time since 2017.
Indeed, having finished outside of the top 10 in each of the last four years, the Fire currently sit 14th having managed just 10 points from their 13 games, suffering seven defeats in that time while only picking up two victories.
The most recent of those triumphs came at home to Houston Dynamo in early April, but they have failed to build on that since, earning two points from a pair of goalless stalemates in the next three attempts before suffering three more defeats on the bounce heading into the weekend.
Following a 1-0 loss to basement side New England Revolution and a 3-1 beating at the hands of St Louis City, Frank Klopas's side most recently hosted Charlotte FC in midweek, and they again came away empty-handed as Ashley Westwood netted the only goal of the game on the hour mark for the visitors.
Now already trailing the playoff wildcard spots by four points and the top seven by eight, with only two sides across the entire MLS having managed fewer than their 12 goals from 13 games, Chicago Fire will be desperate to turn their fortunes around and move into a competitive position in the coming weeks, starting with a much-needed return to winning ways on Sunday to end their rut.
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They face a tough test, though, as the defending champions arrive aiming to extend a pleasing run of recent form and strengthen their position in the Conference's top seven.
In what has been a busy start to the 2024 season, competing on the domestic front and continentally in the CONCACAF Champions Cup thanks to last season's glory, Columbus Crew head into Saturday's trip having lost just once across their last 11 matches across all competitions, reaching the final of the latter competition along the way with hard-fought two-legged triumphs over Tigres and Monterrey.
Returning to MLS action following that latest continental victory in early May, the Crew headed into a tough test against FC Cincinnati with 15 points on the board from 10 outings, but they would suffer just a second league defeat of the season with Max Arfsten's 89th-minute goal coming too late to spark a turnaround after Kevin Kelsy and Luciano Acosta had their visitors 2-0 up.
A trip to CF Montreal then followed on Thursday, and Wilfried Nancy's side succeeded in bouncing back to winning ways, with Arfsten opening the scoring and Diego Rossi restoring their lead on the hour mark before Marino Hinestroza wrapped up a 3-1 victory with a goal in the dying embers.
Having fought through their busy schedule to return to the playoff spots, Columbus Crew now sit seventh in the Eastern Conference, just one point behind sixth-placed Toronto and two behind New York City FC and Charlotte FC, and they will set out to make it back-to-back three-point hauls on Sunday to move closer to the leading pack.
Team News
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Chicago Fire continue to deal with several injury issues ahead of the weekend, with Maren Haile-Selassie, Tobias Salquist and Chase Gasper all set to remain confined to the treatment room.
In their 4-2-3-1 shape, Hugo Cuypers should continue to lead the line, having netted three MLS goals so far this season following his arrival from Gent, while former Liverpool man Xherdan Shaqiri will again operate in support of the lone striker through the centre.
Elsewhere, Kellyn Acosta and Federico Navarro should again partner up at the base of the midfield, while Carlos Teran will continue alongside mainstay Rafael Czichos at the heart of a back four.
Columbus Crew remain without veteran goalkeeper Evan Bush due to an injury, although Patrick Schulte is their first-choice stopper regardless and will keep his place between the sticks in what could be an unchanged starting XI from their 3-1 win over CF Montreal last time out.
Marino Hinestroza does have a claim to start in attack, after netting a second goal of the season in his cameo in that contest to put the game out of sight, although Wilfried Nancy may instead stick with the front three of Alexandru Matan, Christian Ramirez and Diego Rossi and utilise the Colombian off the bench.
Max Afrfsten is another danger man in a right wing-back role, having scored in each of their last two outings, while Steven Moreira, Rudy Camacho and Yevgen Cheberko are bound to line up in an unaltered back three.
Chicago Fire possible starting lineup:
Brady; Souquet, Teran, Czichos, Gutman; Navarro, Acosta; Gutierrez, Shaqiri, Mueller; Cuypers
Columbus Crew possible starting lineup:
Schulte; Moreira, Camacho, Cheberko; Arfsten, Morris, Nagbe, Yeboah; Matan, Ramirez, Rossi
We say: Chicago Fire 0-2 Columbus Crew
With renewed confidence from a return to winning ways in the week, we anticipate the defending MLS champions being too strong for their struggling hosts in Illinois and taking another three-point haul.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Sam Varley
