Venue: Soldier Field
Record (W-L-D), Points, and Last 5 Results
Atlanta United: Record (4-7-2) (14 pts) Form – DLLLW
- Orlando City (A): Tied 1-1
- Inter Miami CF (A): Lost 2-1
- Nashville SC (A): Lost 4-2
- Inter Miami CF (H): Lost 2-1
- FC Dallas (A): Won 1-0
Chicago Fire: Record (3-7-3) (12 pts) Form – DLDLW
- FC Cincinnati (A): Tied 1-1
- New England (H): Lost 2-1
- Columbus (H): Tied 2-2
- Orlando City (A): Lost 4-1
- Houston (H): Won 4-0
Possible Absences:
Atlanta United:
- Josef Martinez (Injury)
- Cubo Torres (Injury)
- Jurgen Damm (Injury)
Chicago Fire:
- Luka Stojanovic (Injury)
- Kenneth Kronholm (Injury)
- Przemyslaw Frankowski (Injury)
- Johan Kappelhof (Injury)
- Jeremiah Gutjahr (Injury)
Predicted Starting XI:
Atlanta United (4-2-3-1)
- Brad Guzan
- Franco Escobar, Fernando Meza, Anton Walkes, George Bello
- Jeff Larentowicz, Emerson Hyndman
- Brooks Lennon, Mattheus Rossetto, Jake Mulraney
- Jon Gallagher
Chicago Fire (4-2-3-1)
- Bobby Shuttleworth
- Boris Sekulic, Mauricio Pineda, Francisco Calvo, Jonathan Bornstein
- Gaston Gimenez, Alvaro Medran
- Fabian Herbers, Ignacio Aliseda, Djorde Mihailovic
- Robert Beric
Both Atlanta United and Chicago Fire broke a winless streak on Wednesday. Chicago broke a 5-game winless streak by beating Houston Dynamo 4-0, while Atlanta broke a 6-game winless streak of their own by beating FC Dallas 1-0. The two sides have struggled so far this season but hope their recent positive result can be a sign of things to come.
Chicago have a lot of injuries to deal with, but Raphael Wicky is expected to stay with the team that beat Houston. Stephen Glass on the other hand has minimal injury problems if recent injury reports are to be believed. According to the injury report the only players injured for this game are Josef Martinez and Cubo Torres. This would mean Ezequiel Barco, Mattheus Rossetto, and Jurgen Damm would be fit and in contention to make the 18. With them all coming off of injuries, the only player I put in the starting lineup is Rossetto, because his injury seemed very minor and more of a “better safe than sorry” substitution at half-time against Dallas.
This should be a very interesting encounter that could give fans a hint at what the rest of the season will look like for the two teams. With them both coming off wins that broke winless streaks, there will be doubts if what happened last game is here to stay. However, with a good performance and a win on Sunday, those doubts might all but disappear. Whichever team doesn’t perform should be wary they could fall back into the performances that saw them have a sustained winless streak.
My Prediction: Chicago Fire 1 – 2 Atlanta United. This is one that could go either way and I could easily see a draw. The reason I’ve chosen Atlanta is because of the players returning. The game against Dallas was impressive in itself when you look at Atlanta’s form going into the match and then look at Dallas’, but then you also remember Atlanta had no Designated Players on the field for the whole game. If Barco and Damm do indeed come back from injury it could make a big difference. They played a lot better midweek but didn’t look very dangerous on the attack. That is backed by their only goal coming from a penalty. Barco and Damm could change that and if Atlanta can play the way they did midweek with a more dangerous offense, they should be able to get three points. However, it should be pointed out that Chicago looked the better of the two sides when they won in midweek. So, if they continue that form, it might be hard for Atlanta to cope.
The Possible Absences and Starting XI portions of the article will be updated as necessary up until starting lineups are announced