Sports Mole previews Sunday’s Major League Soccer clash between Chicago Fire and FC Cincinnati, including predictions, team news and possible lineups.
Chicago Fire and FC Cincinnati will both be looking to get their respective Major League Soccer campaigns up and running when they face off at Soldier Field on Sunday.
Both teams had to settle for a share of the spoils in their opening fixtures and they will be looking to go one better in this weekend’s encounter.
Match preview
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Chicago Fire played out a thrilling 2-2 stalemate against Philadelphia Union when the teams went head to head at Subaru Park on Sunday.
Frank Klopas‘s men led 1-0 and 2-1 through strikes from Brian Gutierrez and Fabian Herbers but were pegged back on either occasion by Mikael Uhre and Daniel Gazdag.
Consequently, The Men in Red currently occupy fifth position in the Eastern Conference of the MLS table after the maiden round of matches.
Coming up next is the challenge of an opposing outfit with little separating the sides over the last five meetings which have yielded two wins apiece and a draw.
Having scored 11 times across their last four home matches, Sunday’s hosts will be looking to put on another fine attacking display in front of their fans.
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Cincinnati breezed into the next round of the CONCACAF Champions Cup thanks to a 4-0 demolition of Cavalier at the TQL Stadium on Thursday.
Goals from Alvas Powell and Aaron Boupendza put Pat Noonan‘s men in the driving seat after which Isaiah Foster and Gerardo Valenzuela sealed the deal in the second period.
Prior to that, The Garys kicked off their domestic campaign with a goalless draw at the hands of Toronto and sit 11th in the Western Conference standings as a result.
Unbeaten in eight of their last nine away matches across all competitions, Sunday’s visitors have proven themselves to be a real force to reckon with on the road.
Chicago Fire Major League Soccer form:
FC Cincinnati form (all competitions):
Team News
Twenty-four-year-old Victor Bezerra is currently sidelined with a long-term leg injury and will not feature for Chicago Fire this weekend.
American duo Javier Casas and Bryan Dowd also miss out for the home side through injury as Carlos Teran continues his recovery from a muscle problem.
Nick Hagglund and Alec Kann are guaranteed absentees for Cincinnati this weekend but the former is drawing increasingly closer to a return to action.
Isaiah Forster could be rewarded with a place in the visitors’ starting lineup here having come off the bench to good effect last time out.
Chicago Fire possible starting lineup:
Brady; Gutman, Czichos, Pineda, Arigoni; Gimenez, Herbers; Haile-Selassie, Shaqiri, Gutierrez; Cuypers
FC Cincinnati possible starting lineup:
Celentano; Keller, Robinson, Murphy; Kubo, Bucha, Nwobodo, Orellano; Acosta, Santos, Baird
We say: Chicago Fire 2-2 FC Cincinnati
Both sides have certainly shown they have goals in them and we expect a highly-entertaining clash here. That said, we can see the teams cancelling each other out over the 90 minutes and settling for a point apiece in the end.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.