New York City FC (6-3-2, 2nd in East) vs. Chicago Fire FC (2-5-5, 14th in East)
With the White Sox playing the Yankees in the Bronx, Chicago Fire FC head to Queens and Citi Field to face NYCFC for a Sunday matinee. The Fire have yet to defeat NYCFC in NYC in eight attempts and are trying to end an eight-match winless streak. It almost happened in Harrison, NJ, against Red Bulls, but the Fire conceded yet another goal that cost them points.
Xherdan Shaqiri did have his best match in a Fire shirt with a goal and an assist, but it was offset by another howler by Gaga Slonina and a late defensive breakdown. While some of the players are different, the recent results have been the same from the past two years much to the consternation and frustration of the Fire faithful. Fire head coach Ezra Hendrickson warned of “Growing Pains”, but it’s been too often “The Facts of Life” for Fire fans.
The Fire may have caught a break with Valentin Castellanos suspended for NYCFC due to yellow card accumulation. Santiago Rodriguez leads blue half of New York/New Jersey with six. Other players to watch out for are Thiago Andrade and Talles Mango who will also try and pick up the slack. NYCFC have not lost in any competition since Seattle knocked them out of the Concacaf Champions League semifinals. They are currently on a three-match winning streak despite mimicking what the Chicago Sting used to do in the late 70s/early 80s in bouncing around venues in their area due primarily to baseball.
The Fire need to half goldfish memories of their last two games and focus on getting a result in a tough place to play. Otherwise, the memories of the past decade plus, let alone the last two years, will continue to be the elephant in the room.
Kickoff for the match is at 4pm CT on WGN-TV.
INJURIES:
NEW YORK CITY FC: OUT: Anton Tinnerholm (achilles tendon), Kevin O’Toole (head); QUESTIONABLE: Malte Amundsen (lower body), Chris Gloster (lower body), Maxi Moralez (lower body), Trayvon Gray (lower body)
CHICAGO FIRE FC: OUT: Spencer Richey (head), Javier Casas Jr. (pelvis); QUESTIONABLE: Rafael Czichos (right lower leg), Jairo Torres (left hip)
SUSPENDED:
NYC: Valentin Castellanos
SUSPENDED NEXT YELLOW:
NYC: Santiago Rodriguez
CHI: Gaston Gimenez
Referee: Fotis Bazakos
Assistant Referees: Oscar Mitchell-Carvalho, Lyes Arfa
Fourth Official: Greg Dopka
VAR: Drew Fischer
LAST YEAR:
08/04/21: CHI 0-0 NYC
09/29/21: CHI 2-0 NYC
10/27/21: NYC 1-0 CHI
