Chicago Fire and DC United will be looking to secure their first win of the 2025 MLS campaign when they go head to head at the Soldier Field Stadium on Saturday night.
The Black-and-Red are on a run of four consecutive games without defeat against the home side since April 2023 and will head into the weekend looking to extend this two-year streak.
Match preview
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Chicago Fire saw their lead slip away twice in last Sunday's season curtain-raiser as they suffered a 4-2 defeat against Columbus Crew when the two sides squared off at the Lower.com Field.
Brian Gutierrez netted a brace to put visitors in front twice before the midway point of the first half but Jacen Russell-Rowe's 19th-minute strike and an own goal from Carlos Teran helped the hosts level matters before Diego Rossi scored a brace to hand the Crew all three points.
Having taken over position at the helm of affairs in October, former United States head coach Gregg Berhalter would have hoped to make an immediate impact coming off a solid pre-season run, where they picked up three wins and one draw from their six matches.
The 51-year-old, who won two Supporters' Shields and two MLS Cups during his playing days with Columbus Crew between 2009 and 2011, undoubtedly faces a stern challenge, taking over a side that finished rock-bottom in the Eastern Conference standings.
Chicago Fire won just seven of their 34 MLS matches last season while losing 18 and claiming nine draws to finish with 30 points, bottom but one in the Supporters' Shields standings, 11 points above last-placed San Jose Earthquakes.
While Chicago Fire will be looking to get off the mark this season on Saturday, they face the challenge of an opposing side whom they have failed to get the better of in their last four meetings, losing twice and claiming two draws since a 1-0 win in June 2022.
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Like this weekend's hosts, DC United were let down by their defensive frailty as they played out a 2-2 draw with Toronto FC after giving up their lead twice at the Audi Field.
After Jonathan Osorio struck in the 27th minute to cancel out Boris Enow's early opener, Christian Benteke netted in the 35th minute to restore DC United's lead, but Federico Bernardeschi converted his 70th-minute penalty to force a share of the spoils.
This highlighted their major struggles from last season, when the Black-and-Red conceded 70 league goals to finish with the third-worst defensive record of all 29 teams — only New England Revolution (74) and San Jose Earthquakes (78) allowed more.
Troy Lesesne's men secured 40 points last season, claiming 10 wins and 10 draws from their 34 games, to finish 10th in the Eastern Conference standings, only below ninth-placed Atlanta United in the final playoff spot on goal difference.
DC United have come into the new season off the back of a promising pre-season campaign, where they went unbeaten in four of their five games — claiming two wins and two draws — with a 4-1 loss against Nashville on February 12 being the exception.
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Team News
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Chicago Fire will take to the pitch without several players down the spine of the team as Chase Gasper, Dylan Borso and Maren Haile-Selassie continue their spells on the sidelines.
Polish midfielder David Poreba has been ruled out since picking up a knee injury against Sporting Kansas City on January 25 and the 22-year-old will play no part in Saturday's clash.
Jonathan Bamba, Philip Zinckernagel and Jack Elliott all made their debuts against Columbus Crew in last weekend's season opener and should retain their roles in the XI here.
Meanwhile, DC United will have to cope without the attacking trio of Jackson Hopkins (ankle), Peglow (thigh) and Jared Stroud (ankle), who are currently recuperating from injuries.
American defender Conner Antley continues his lengthy spell on the sidelines since suffering a knee injury in May 2024 and the 29-year-old is also out of contention for the visitors.
Having clinched the Golden Boot last season with 23 goals in 30 games, Benteke opened his account for the season with his strike against Toronto last time out and the Belgian striker will be looking to deliver the goods once again.
Chicago Fire possible starting lineup:
Brady; Dean, Teran, Elliott, Gutman; Oregel, Acosta; Zinckernagel, Gutierrez, Bamba; Cuypers
DC United possible starting lineup:
Kim; Herrera, Bartlett, Rowles; Murrell, Enow, Servania, Schnegg; Pirani, Benteke, Kijima
We say: Chicago Fire 2-2 DC United
Having both dropped points from winning positions in their league openers, Chicago Fire and DC United will head into this weekend's clash looking to bounce back and get their campaign up and running. While home advantage gives the Fire an extra edge here, we predict that DC United will do just enough to leave with a share of the spoils.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Joshua Ojele
