DC United and Chicago Fire go in search of a much-needed victory when they face off at Audi Field on Sunday in the latest round of Major League Soccer action.
The home side are currently on a run of four straight defeats across all competitions, while the visitors head into this weekend's affair aiming to avoid a sixth straight loss.
Match preview
© Reuters
DC United were on the receiving end of a comprehensive 3-1 defeat at the hands of Philadelphia Union when the teams went head-to-head on Sunday.
Goals from Mikael Uhre, Jack McGlynn and Daniel Gazdag saw Wayne Rooney's men down-and-out by half time before Theodore Ku-DiPietro pulled one back two minutes from time.
As a result, the Black-and-Red remain 10th in the Eastern Conference of the MLS table, albeit now nine points adrift of the final playoff place.
Lying in store next is the challenge of an opposing outfit who have proven to be a tough nut to crack with the last 11 meetings yielding three wins apiece and five draws.
Currently on a run of just one victory in six home matches leading up to Sunday's contest, the hosts will be keen to turn things around in front of their fans.
© Reuters
Chicago Fire suffered a fifth loss on the bounce as they were narrowly beaten 1-0 by Vancouver Whitecaps at Soldier Field on Thursday.
Brian White's 19th-minute opener proved to be the decisive moment as Frank Klopas's men failed to find the back of the net for the third time in four matches.
With 32 points from 26 matches so far, the Men in Red sit ninth in the Eastern Conference standings, two points ahead of this weekend's opponents.
In the first of two crunch games against fellow playoff hopefuls, Sunday's visitors set out to secure a crucial victory to help keep the pressure up.
- L
- W
- L
- L
- L
- L
- W
- L
- L
- L
- L
- L
Team News
© Reuters
Mohanad Jeahze remains unavailable for DC United with a calf injury, while Martin Rodriguez continues to battle with a knee problem.
Theodore Ku-DiPietro has scored in two of his last four matches either side of a spell on the sidelines, and the midfielder could be handed a rare start here.
Chicago Fire's Chris Mueller has not featured since the third week of May due to a long-term hip injury and he is still a long way off making his comeback.
Victor Bezerra is also out of action for the visiting team with a leg injury, and the American is joined on the treatment table by Javier Casas.
Thirty-year-old Fabian Herbers will be looking to deliver the goods once again having scored the winner in last season's edition of this fixture.
DC United possible starting lineup:
Miller; Hines-Ike, Birnbaum, Williams; Durkin, Canouse, Klich, Santos; Asad, Pirani, Benteke
Chicago Fire possible starting lineup:
Brady; Teran, Pineda, Czichos; Haile-Selassie, Navarro, Doumbia, Navarro; Shaqiri, Kamara, Gutierrez
We say: DC United 1-0 Chicago Fire
Goals have been hard to come by for both teams of late, and we can see Sunday's contest turning out to be a low-scoring one. We also back the home side to scrape a narrow win come the end of the 90 minutes.
How to watch
You can watch DC United vs. Chicago Fire and every MLS match this season live on Apple TV. Click here for more details on how to subscribe.For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Top tip
Adepoju Marvellous
