Preview: Toronto FC vs. Fire

Before we delve into the standard preview, I asked Section 8 Chicago about the “regular meetings” that Fire president and general manager Nelson Rodriguez mentioned in Wednesday’s media round table between the front office and the independent supporters groups. Section 8 Vice-Chairman responded to our query with the following statement:

Back to the preview, last Saturday, TFC got their second away win of the season at the expense of the Fire. They are still well behind the 8-ball in terms of a playoff chase as they are nine points adrift of the red line. On Wednesday, they defeated Ottawa Fury in the Canadian Championship 3-0 on the night and 4-0 on aggregate. They will play Vancouver in the Final of that competition.

Last Saturday, TFC took advantage of two Fire defensive miscues with Nemanja Nikolic’s 10th goal of the season sandwiched in between. It was the Fire’s fourth loss on the bounce and they are now five points adrift of sixth-place New England with 12 league matches to play. Raheem Edwards was a bright spot for the Fire in the loss after being recently acquired from Montreal.

“I think Raheem is going to bring a ton of energy, pace and determination,” coach Veljko Paunović said. “He played a great game in his debut. He had an assist and showed a lot of character, soccer acumen and desire. I think this shows us that there’s a future here, but also a present.”

The very least that the Fire can do to at least placate its fanbase is to starting winning games again. Otherwise, the protests will get even louder by the time of their next home game on August 11th. You cannot help but feel that Nelson Rodriguez has put a lot of this on himself this season from failing to add depth in the offseason and then coming off as Dean Wormer of Animal House in the ongoing dispute with the supporters groups.

However, the short term is that the Fire really need to start winning and return the favor against TFC.

Kickoff for the match is at 6pm CT on ESPN+ in the United States and TSN4 in Canada.

INJURIES:

TORONTO FC–OUT: D – Drew Moor (quadricep strain), D – Auro (hamstring strain)

CHICAGO FIRE–OUT: M – Djordje Mihailovic (right ACL surgery), F – Michael de Leeuw (left ACL surgery), D – Matt Polster (MCL surgery), GK – Patrick McLain (hamstring injury), D – Grant Lillard (right quad injury), M – Dax McCarty (hamstring injury); QUESTIONABLE: D – Jorge Corrales (facial injury)

Referee:  Joseph Dickerson

4th Official:  Luis Guardia

VAR:  Guido Gonzales

THIS YEAR:

4/28/18:  TOR 2-2 CHI

7/21/18:  CHI 1-2 TOR