Orlando City SC (6-4-1, 5th in East) vs. Chicago Fire (3-6-2, 8th in East)
May 26, 7:30PM EST/6:30 PM EST, ESPN+
The Chicago Fire head to Orlando City SC with a M*A*S*H unit worth of injuries and a frustrated superstar at the moment. The Fire have lost back-to-back games and are six points adrift from the red line.
Last week against Houston, Fire midfielder Bastian Schweinsteiger said that the team “killed themselves unnecessarily” after blowing a 2-1 lead to lose 3-2. It hasn’t been good enough for the most part since the start of the season for the Fire. It won’t help that Matt Polster is likely lost for the season and Dax McCarty is lost for another week due to a hamstring strain. It’s time for others to step up for the Fire between now and the re-opening of the transfer window on July 10th.
Orlando is also coming off back-to-back losses after winning four straight. Last Friday, the Lions lost to Toronto FC, 2-1, at BMO Field and are fifth at the moment in the East. Yet, head coach Jason Kreis feels confident that his club is close to putting everything together despite the Toronto loss.
“It’s the details now,” Kreis said. “I really feel like and I think once we put those details together and marry them with the performance we’re seeing in 90 percent of those matches, I expect real positive results here in the very near future.”
The Fire are 1-2-4 all-time against Orlando in league play and have never won in Orlando. It was predicted since the second home match of the season that this was going to be tough sledding for the Fire at least until July. Because of that, it has to be next man up for the Fire and take more initiative if they are going to remain in the playoff hunt.
Kickoff is at 6:30pm on ESPN+ in Chicago and the Nation and TV27 in Orlando.
INJURIES:
ORLANDO CITY SC–OUT: GK – Mason Stajduhar (Localized Ewing Sarcoma), D – Jonathan Spector (concussion), F – Dom Dwyer (lower body injury); QUESTIONABLE: D – Scott Sutter (lower body injury)
CHICAGO FIRE–OUT: M – Djordje Mihailovic (right ACL surgery), F – Michael de Leeuw (left ACL surgery), D – Matt Polster (MCL sprain), F – Luis Solignac (left quad injury), M – Jon Bakero (right ankle injury), M – Dax McCarty (hamstring strain), F – Elliot Collier (left gastroc injury)
Referee: Nima Saghafi
Assistant Referees: Peter Manilkowski, Jose Da Silva
Fourth Official: Marcos de Oliveira
VAR: Kevin Terry Jr.
LAST YEAR:
06/04/17: ORL 0-0 CHI
06/24/17: CHI 4-0 CHI
Chicago Fire
Orlando City
