(9) Portland Timbers (5-7-6, 21 points) vs (14) Chicago Fire (3-6-8, 17 points)
Wednesday June 21, 2023 KO 7:30 PM PST/ 10:30 PM EST
Providence Park, Portland, Oregon
Portland Timbers Briefly
Leaving San Jose with a share of spoils, the Portland Timbers had its share of opportunities to score and came so close, but in the end no cigar with a draw at zero goals but with two goalkeepers with clean sheets.
So far, the Rose City side is lacking that finishing touch coming short of its objective to finish up what they started and pushing that ball inside the nets for a score; something that’s becoming too elusive for the Timbers.
In defense, the Portland side really has showed up to its potential and looking very solid, but with calls from two of its most notable players in Juan Mosquera and Zac McGraw getting a call from their national teams, this puts manager Giovanni Savarese in a dire situation come Wednesday after the game against the Chicago Fire. Who will replace these players? Will defender Tyler Gregg get the call and be ready for primetime?
Second, the need to stop from some of its starting players of getting yellow cards is imperative for this club success and looking to make it into the postseason, as another failure will become sort of catastrophic for Gio in the helm.
The need to become more aggressive in the attack is a must and the need to conclude a play is necessary for this continuance to be above the postseason spots for the remainder of the campaign.
I can see the effort of Evander becoming important on the attacking side, becoming very proficient with Santiago Moreno as well Dairon Aspirilla and feeding a number of chances to Franck Boli but lacking an ending.
The need to call up players from T2 is to develop them and give them minutes, as the case of Noel Caliskan not getting any minutes since getting the call to the big team he hasn’t been getting any activity in the big team.
This team needs to become more serious and dedicated in its game and finish what they started. However, with a few players out in international duty, manager Savarese will have one tough time in developing a winning formula.
Photo Credit Chicago Fire F.C.
Chicago Fire Briefly
Another failed season for the Chicago Fire seeing its manager Ezra Hendrickson getting axed, because of the odd results and not showing any improvements in the course of this 2023.
Despite the team reinforcing many areas of need, the Fire haven’t been able to make a stand or the desired impact its directives wanted from the team of the Windy City.
With interim manager Frank Klopas, the former alumni have not been able to turn things around and the club is currently hurting and way below the postseason spots in what looks a very contested Eastern Conference.
With a number of important players called up for international duty with their national teams, I somehow foresee more trouble for the Fire as one of its most notable players Xherdan Shaquiri has played a couple of Euro 2024 qualifiers for Switzerland.
After their elimination from the US Open Cup against Houston, this would been a boost to this club confidence. Can the Fire rescue its campaign?
Meetings
08/14/2019 Portland Timbers 3-2 Chicago Fire
03/31/2018 Chicago Fire 2-2 Portland Timbers
07/05/2017 Portland Timbers 2-2 Chicago Fire
Forecast
The Portland Timbers can get back on the winning column with a win over a troubled Chicago
