Los Angeles FC (7-1-2, 1st in West) vs. Chicago Fire (2-4-3, 8th in East)
The Chicago Fire are looking for a goal on this road trip, let along something to back before Wednesday’s home match against New England. The Fire have had back-to-back 1-0 defeats to NYCFC and Montreal on this road trip. Now, they face the best team in MLS at Banc of California Stadium.
More daunting, as a team the Fire have scored 12 goals while Carlos Vela has scored 11 on his own and Diego Rossi has six. LAFC are coming off a 1-1 draw where they were unable to take full advantage of an eventually nine-man Sounders side.
At least on the defensive side, the Fire made what could be viewed as an upgrade sending $400,000 in allocation money to Minnesota United for Francisco Calvo. Calvo fell out with the Loons after a sending off against Toronto. He might be inserted straight away into the lineup given that Marcelo is still out with a thigh injury. Aleksandar Katai, on the other hand, appears fit again and may also return to the lineup.
The Fire may go above the red line with a win and if results go in their favor, but could also finish the weekend bottom if they do not win and results go against them. They at least need to find a way to score goals, especially with the attacking options available. Otherwise, more questions will be asked of Veljko Paunovic on whether he is really getting the best out of his squad.
Kickoff is at 9:30pm CT on ESPN+ in the US and YouTube TV in the LA Region.
INJURIES:
LOS ANGELES FC:
OUT: Danilo Silva (D) – right hamstring strain
OUT: Javier Perez (M) – groin strain
OUT: Alejandro Guido (M) – right quad strain
CHICAGO FIRE:
OUT: D – Andre Reynolds II (thigh injury)
OUT: M – Raheem Edwards (knee injury)
OUT: D – Marcello (thigh injury)
QUESTIONABLE: F – Fabian Herbers (groin injury)
Referee: Fotis Bazakos
Assistant Referees: Brian Poeschel, Chris Wattam
4th Official: Alejandro Mariscal
VAR: Kevin Stott
LAST YEAR:
9/29/18: CHI 3-1 LAFC
Chicago Fire
