New York Red Bulls are back on the road and this time are visiting Bridgeview, Illinois, as they take on Bastian Schweinsteiger and Chicago Fire. New York come into this match with their eyes on first place in the Supporters Shield, as they are four points of Atlanta United at the top of the table. Chicago, on the other hand, are in the midst of a league-worst six-game losing streak and are desperate to avoid another defeat.
The Chris Armas era is well underway for the Red Bulls and after a shaky start, they are beginning to look ready to make an end of season push for silverware. Last weekend’s win over a dynamic Los Angeles team may have been the most convincing performance under Armas to date and New York will look to carry the momentum into the tie with Chicago and continue to climb the standings.
Meanwhile, Chicago Fire are attempting to solve their current issues after a devastating loss in the U.S. Open Cup to the Philadelphia Union. With the MLS play-offs seemingly out of reach, Chicago were hoping to save their season with a run to the Open Cup final, but ultimately fell short on Wednesday night in Philadelphia. Veljko Paunović and his squad must pick up their heads and turn things around quickly if they hope to salvage anything from this season.
Earlier this season the two teams met at the Red Bull Arena, which ended in a rare home loss for New York Red Bulls off the back of a disappointing exit from the Champions League. The circumstances are much different this time around in what should be an entertaining Eastern Conference showdown as the play-offs draw closer.
After a timid end to the summer transfer window for both teams, the Red Bulls will hope to see recent signing Andreas Ivan make his long-awaited debut against the Fire. Ivan received his P-1 Visa this week after transferring from Germany and is finally eligible to appear in a MLS match.
Match Information
Date: Saturday, August 10, 2018
Kick-off: 20:30 (ET) | 01:30 (BST)
Venue: Toyota Park (capacity: 28,000)
Referee: Nima Saghafi
Broadcasting: ESPN+ (USA) | MLS LIVE on DAZN (Canada) | MSG (New York)
Previous Meetings
07.31.16: Chicago Fire 2-2 New York Red Bulls
06.29.17: New York Red Bulls 2-1 Chicago Fire
09.09.17: Chicago Fire 1-1 New York Red Bulls
10.25.17: Chicago Fire 0-4 New York Red Bulls
04.21.18: New York Red Bulls 1-2 Chicago Fire
Current Form
Chicago Fire
Real Salt Lake 1-2 (A) | Toronto 0-3 (A) | Toronto 1-2 (H) | FC Dallas 1-3 (A) | Philadelphia Union 3-4 (H)
New York Red Bulls
Los Angeles 2-1 (H) | Columbus Crew 2-3 (H) | D.C. United 1-0 (A) | New England Revolution 2-0 (H) | Sporting Kansas City 3-2 (H)
Team News
Chicago Fire
Injured: Djordje Mihailovic (anterior cruciate ligament) | Michael de Leeuw (anterior cruciate ligament) | Matt Polster (medial collateral ligament) | Patrick McLain (hamstring) | Grant Lillard (quad)
Doubtful: Diego Campos (knee)
New York Red Bulls
Injured: Kyle Duncan (anterior cruciate ligament) | Florian Valot (anterior cruciate ligament) | Vincent Bezecourt (medial collateral ligament)
Predicted Line-ups
Chicago Fire
Sánchez
Edwards – Kappelhof – Vincent – Corrales
McCarty – Bronico
Katai – Schweinsteiger – Solignac
Nikolić
New York Red Bulls
Robles
Murillo – Long – Parker – Lawrence
Adams – Davis
Royer – Romero Gamarra – Rzatkowski
Wright-Phillips
Score Prediction
Chicago Fire 1-2 New York Red Bulls
