The Major League Soccer (MLS) campaign resumes Saturday for New York City FC and the Chicago Fire, who square off at Citi Field in Queens.
In their previous domestic outing, the Pigeons played to a 1-1 draw with Orlando City, while the Fire lost their last league fixture, 2-1 to Inter Miami.
Match preview
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At the 2024 Leagues Cup, this young New York City side proved they are capable of competing against the very best that MLS and Liga MX have to offer.
Nick Cushing's team were knocked out by the reigning MLS Cup champions, the Columbus Crew, on penalties after taking out Mexican giants Tigres in the previous round (2-1) and being fewer than 10 minutes away from upsetting the 2023 Supporters' Shield winners FC Cincinnati in the group phase (4-2 loss).
That should give this group a lot of confidence down the stretch run of the regular season as they seek home-field advantage in the opening round of the playoffs, currently fifth in the Eastern Conference table, three points behind the New York Red Bulls for fourth.
Their last three matches in this competition ended in a draw, while the Boys in Blue have not won any of their previous four domestic contests.
So far in 2024, this group have points in four of five regular season contests at Citi Field, with their only defeat in Queens occurring in early May versus the Colorado Rapids (2-0).
NYCFC are unbeaten in their last six MLS meetings with the Fire, winning by a 1-0 score in three successive home games against them, one of those being at Citi Field last year.
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It was an early exit at the Leagues Cup for the Chicago Fire, who lost their two group fixtures despite scoring first in both encounters.
Frank Klopas has had over three weeks to prepare his side for the stretch run of the MLS season, and there is a lot of work to do if they are to make the playoffs for the first time since 2017.
Chicago are currently second from bottom in the Eastern Conference, with five teams above them in the post-season race, but only three points separate them from Atlanta United for that final spot.
Nine games remain for them to make up that ground, and this team have won just one of their previous four league fixtures (1-0 over FC Cincinnati).
Only twice in the 2024 regular season have they won away from home, two fewer than a year ago, while they have squandered seven points from winning positions as the visitors this year.
With 30 domestic goals this year, the Fire are tied with Charlotte FC for the joint second-fewest in the league, failing to find the back of the net eight times, three of which were away from home.
Team News
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During the Leagues Cup, New York City were still without Malachi Jones due to a broken tibia, while Andres Perea has a leg injury.
Christian McFarlane has started the last three MLS encounters for them at left-back or as a wing-back, while Birk Risa, a regular starter at centre-back, was on the bench at the start of their last two League Cup affairs.
Hannes Wolf had the equalising goal for them in their previous league fixture against Orlando City, his fifth of the 2024 domestic season.
For this encounter, the Fire may miss Carlos Teran and Federico Navarro because of leg issues, while Chase Gasper still has a hamstring injury.
During the Leagues Cup, the club parted ways with Xherdan Shaqiri and acquired Ariel Lassiter from CF Montreal in exchange for General Allocation Money.
In their previous league fixture, Rafael Czichos had their only strike, his first of the domestic campaign, which drew them level for two minutes before Jordi Alba netted the winner for Miami.
New York City FC possible starting lineup:
Freese; Gray, Martins, Risa, McFarlane; Parks, Sands; Wolf, Rodriguez, Mijatovic; Martinez
Chicago Fire possible starting lineup:
Brady; Souquet, Omsberg, Czichos, Arigoni; Herbers, Acosta, Gimenez, Haile-Selassie; Koutsias, Cuypers
We say: New York City FC 2-0 Chicago Fire
The Pigeons should have gained massive confidence from their Leagues Cup performances, while the Fire still seem to be searching for their true identity, so we expect a comfortable victory for the Boys in Blue this weekend.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Joel Lefevre
