San Jose Earthquakes (3-6-2, 10th in West) vs. Chicago Fire (4-4-4, 8th in East)
The Chicago Fire will look for a third successive win in San Jose, but will have to make do without Bastian Schweinsteiger and Nico Gaitan. The former is out due to yellow card accumulation while Gaitan left last week’s game against Minnesota with a thigh injury.
The Fire have gone three consecutive matches without conceding a goal. Their last clean sheet away from home in the league was back in September 2017 in Montreal.
The Quakes are coming off a 3-1 loss at New England which snapped a four-match unbeaten streak. They have won their last three at the Avaya Stadium. They will get Cristian Espinoza back after a one-match suspension.
How Valjko Paunovic arranges his starting XI will be something to look for on Saturday. Paunovic will need to determine who partners with Francisco Calvo at center back and who plays in the #10 spot to replace Gaitan. The defense will surely be dealing with Martinez, Vako, and Shea Salinas in the Quakes’ attack. The Fire attack will face a defense that joint-third from bottom only ahead of the Rapids and Revolution.
Kickoff is at 2:30pm CT on Univision.
INJURIES:
SAN JOSE EARTHQUAKES:
None
CHICAGO FIRE:
OUT: Nicolas Gaitan (M) – thigh injury
QUESTIONABLE: Marcelo (D) – hip injury
QUESTIONABLE: Raheem Edwards (M) – knee injury
QUESTIONABLE: Andre Reynolds II (D) – thigh injury
SUSPENDED:
CHI: Bastian Schweinsteiger (yellow card accumulation)
SUSPENDED NEXT YELLOW:
SJ: Tommy Thompson
Referee: Alex Chilowicz
Assistant Referees: Brian Dunn, Felisha Mariscal
4th Official: Alejandro Mariscal
VAR: Victor Rivas
LAST YEAR:
6/02/18: CHI 2-1 SJ
