Chicago Fire FC rides a five-match unbeaten run into the City of Brotherly Love on Saturday night, as Head Coach Ezra Hendrickson and his side get set for a meeting with the first place Philadelphia Union.
The Fire picked up their second-straight road win last weekend in their first-ever visit to Charlotte FC, coming from behind to steal all three points in a 3-2 victory over the 2022 expansion side. They'll look to push that streak to three in what will be their second match with the Union this season. These two teams faced off at Soldier Field on June 29, when the Fire walked away with a 1-0 win courtesy of midfielder Federico Navarro. Still, the Union remain atop the Eastern Conference entering the match with 45 points through 24 matches played.
Tonight's match kicks off at 6:30 p.m. CT, with broadcast coverage available on WGN, CF97 Live, Univision Radio, and MLS LIVE's out-of-market package on ESPN+.
Details on how Hendrickson will deploy his side from the outset are below:
- Only a single change has been made to the lineup that was victorious in Charlotte last weekend. Captain Rafael Czichos returns to the starting lineup, having missed that match while in health and safety protocols with an illness. He'll slot in alongside Mauricio Pineda in central defense this evening, in place of Jonathan Bornstein.
- Fresh off of one of his most dominant performances of the season - as well as the birth of his second child! - forward Kacper Przybyłko leads the attacking line in Philadelphia tonight. The Polish striker scored two of the Fire's goals against Charlotte, earning MLS Team of the Week honors for his performance and pushing his season total to five.
- The aforementioned Federico Navarro was also back on the scoresheet last weekend, netting his second goal of the season to go with the one scored against the Union in June. He makes his 17th straight start in holding midfield tonight, and will look to haunt the Union once again alongside Gastón Giménez.
- Designated Player Xherdan Shaqiri assisted both Przybyłko and Navarro in Charlotte last weekend, also earning MLS Team of the Week inclusion for his efforts. The Swiss midfielder has now hit double digits (10) in the category, and slots into the heart of the Fire midfield once again tonight. He'll be flanked by Schaumburg native Chris Mueller and Young Designated Player Jairo Torres.
- Boris Sekulić and Miguel Navarro will serve as tonight's tandem at fullback. Sekulić and Navarro have appeared together 56 times since joining the Club in 2020.
- 18-year-old goalkeeper Gabriel Slonina takes his usual spot in net, looking for his 11th clean sheet of the campaign. His 10 clean sheets so far rank as the second-highest total in MLS, behind only NYCFC's Sean Johnson (12).
- Available to Hendrickson as substitutions tonight are goalkeeper Spencer Richey, defender Jonathan Bornstein, defender Andre Reynolds II, midfielder Javier Casas Jr., midfielder Brian Gutiérrez, forward Victor Bezerra, forward Fabian Herbers, and forward Jhon Durán.
- Defender Jhon Espinoza (right knee), defender Carlos Terán (right thigh), defender Wyatt Omsberg (left foot), and winger Stanislav Ivanov (right thigh) are unavailable for selection tonight.
Get a look at Philadelphia's starting lineup below as it becomes available:
