Chicago Fire vs New York City FC

Soldier Field is the venue as Chicago Fire and New York City FC go head-to-head in the latest installment of their long-standing Major League Soccer rivalry.

Chicago Fire’s dire form continued last weekend as a 1-0 loss at Western Conference whipping boys San Jose Earthquakes marked their third defeat in four (W1). Despite that underwhelming spell, the hosts are still in contention for a playoff berth in the Eastern Conference, trailing 9th-placed Toronto FC by only three points. On the bright side, Frank Klopas’ men have won back-to-back MLS home matches following a dismal six-game winless streak (D2, L4) and could make it three in a row for the first time this season. However, New York’s upcoming visit hardly bodes well, with Chicago picking up just one win in the last six league meetings between the two teams at Soldier Field (D3, L2).

Encouragingly for New York City, they’ve held Chicago scoreless twice across their last four MLS H2Hs at this venue as they take this trip amidst a dreadful three-match losing run on the road. Two of those three defeats have seen the visitors fail to get on the scoresheet, which has incidentally happened twice on their last four visits to Chicago. The Pigeons haven’t fared well away from home this season, racking up just three wins on ten MLS travels (D1, L6), largely thanks to their misfiring frontline. Nick Cushing’s charges have averaged just 0.8 goals per away league game, accounting for the second-worst scoring record in the Eastern Conference, with only Nashville SC (7) bagging fewer road goals than New York’s eight.