Chicago Fire FC (0-0-1, 9th in East) vs. Orlando City (1-0-0, 5th in East)
Xherdan Shaqiri makes his Soldier Field debut before an anticipated crowd of 25,000 on Saturday as the Fire play their home opener against Orlando City. The Fire are coming off a goalless draw against Inter Miami that saw a team still learning to gel together. They remain winless in opening matches since 2009. They have won their second match of the season just once since 2013 (vs. RSL in 2017). One thing that does go for the Fire is that they are unbeaten in their last five at home against the Lions, including a 3-1 win last season at Soldier Field.
In his words, Shaqiri is here to “bring the glory” back to a club that has not won a trophy since 2006 and have only made the playoffs twice since 2009.
“Some players came [to MLS]very late in age,” Shaqiri, 30, told MLSsoccer.com in a recent 1-on-1 conversation. “Me, I’m in a good age and in my prime. So I’m really looking forward to play here, and to give my experience to this club, to these players, and try to be successful. As we know, the club didn’t perform very well in the last few seasons. So my goal is to bring the glory back and to go forward with this club and yeah, to go a new way.”
Orlando is coming off a 2-0 win over CF Montreal last weekend. Alexandre Pato is the star Brazilian nowadays in Orlando and scored his first last Saturday. He will be the engine for the Lions on Saturday. However, Robin Jansson will not be in the back after a sending off against CF Montreal. The Lions are looking to take a step forward after a step backward to sixth in the East last season and first round elimination in the playoffs.
This being the Fire’s 25th home opener and one for the first time without restrictions since the pandemic began, the hosts will be looking to put on a better show than they did against Miami last week. If the team can gel more here, then three points is a possibility and keep the excitement about this team going.
Kickoff for the match is at 5pm CT on WGN-TV.
INJURIES:
CHICAGO FIRE FC: OUT: Carlos Terán (right thigh); QUESTIONABLE: Federico Navarro (right knee), Missael Rodriguez (left hip)
ORLANDO CITY SC: OUT: Michael Hallday (right thigh)
SUSPENDED:
ORL: Robin Jansson
Referee: Ismir Pekmic
Assistant Referees: Jason White, Tyler Wyrostek
Fourth Official: Matt Thompson
VAR: Sorin Stoica
AVAR: Claudiu Badea
LAST YEAR:
8/21/21: ORL 1-0 CHI
7/07/21: CHI 3-1 ORL
