Chicago Fire interim head coach Frank Klopas might be making some lineup changes ahead of Thursday’s marquee match at Sporting Kansas City (10 pm ET; ESPN2/TSN2/LIVE CHAT).
Klopas told MLSsoccer.com on Monday that he’s considering resting some of his regulars for the second game of an eight-day stretch in which the Fire play three times. Chicago tied Seattle at home on Saturday and will play at Columbus on Sunday.
“You always have to manage that part of it because you play Thursday and then you play Sunday,” Klopas said. “We’re always going to try to get results for sure, that’s the important thing, but we’re going to look into that and see what our game plan for that is going into this game, and then obviously to be ready to go on a quick turnaround this Sunday against Columbus.”
Klopas didn’t say who he’s considering resting, but two possible candidates are midfielder Daniel Paladini (pictured above) and forward Cristian Nazarit.
Paladini, who has played all but 14 minutes since April 30, injured his heel in the late stages of Saturday’s match and sat out training on Monday. Nazarit is healthy, but looked fatigued before coming off in the 78th minute of Saturday’s match. The Colombian has played 288 minutes in Chicago’s last three matches across all competitions.
Sam Stejskal covers the Chicago Fire for MLSsoccer.com. E-mail him at sam.h.stejskal@gmail.com and follow him on Twitter @samstejskal.
