PREFACE: Both the Fire and Red Stars played midweek and lost. Just the Fire played on Saturday and won and actually got closer towards the red line. The Red Stars play midweek again at home while the Fire face a tricky road trip on Saturday. Let’s get to it.
FIRE: The Fire risked it by going squad rotation against Portland and essentially go all in on Saturday against Philadelphia. It paid off in three points, though a red card to Nico Gaitan will hurt them Saturday against New England (6:30pm, ESPN+). As a result, the Fire are just a point behind the red line and three teams to pass. They still need to win games on the road to reach the target of 21 points from their final ten matches. They have nine from their first four in that stretch. If they can bring in the form from last Saturday’s match against Philadelphia, then the playoffs might not be so far-fetched after all.
RED STARS: Figuring out soccer is sometimes like trying to figure out a Rubik’s Cube if you are not at it for hours. Such is the case that while the Red Stars passed their toughest stretch against the likes of North Carolina, Seattle, Washington, and Utah with flying colors, they are now 0-2-0 against Sky Blue FC who had never defeated the Red Stars in NWSL play prior to this season.
The Red Stars remain second, but North Carolina are just one point behind and Utah and Seattle are just two back. The Red Stars will need to return to winning ways to preserve their playoff spot which is far from guaranteed given the log jam at the top. That should start
Wednesday at home against Orlando (6:30pm, NBC Sports Chicago+).
