It's a Saturday night in South Florida as Chicago Fire FC gets set for a 6:30 p.m. CT kickoff against Inter Miami CF at DRV PNK Stadium.
The Fire will hunt for their first win of the season against a Miami side that currently sits in seventh place in the Eastern Conference with six points from two losses and two draws. Miami's two losses have come in their last two outings, most recently having suffered a 2-0 defeat on the road at Toronto FC last weekend. The Fire enter the match coming out of last Saturday's high-scoring 3-3 draw with FC Cincinnati at Soldier Field, and will look to out-duel a Miami side missing star striker Josef Martinez, who is on international duty with Venezuela.
Tune in live at 6:30 p.m. CT when the opening whistle blows on MLS Season Pass on Apple TV, and get the scoop on tonight's Fire starting XI and bench below:
- Two changes have been made to the starting lineup that took on FC Cincinnati last weekend.
- Defender Jonathan Dean slots into the starting XI for the very first time to replace Miguel Navarro, who is also with the Venezuela Men's National Team through the current international window. Dean has made two appearances as a substitute so far this season after being acquired from Birmingham Legion of the USL Championship in January. He'll line up alongside captain Rafael Czichos, Carlos Terán, and Arnaud Souquet in tonight's defensive back line, a trio that has started all three Fire matches together so far this season.
- After missing last Saturday's match due to red card suspension, Fabian Herbers returns to the starting XI and partners with Gastón Giménez in holding midfield.
- Ahead of that pair, the attacking midfield group of Maren Haile-Selassie, Brian Gutiérrez, and Chris Mueller will look to keep the scoring momentum going for a second-straight match. Gutiérrez assisted on Kacper Przybyłko's opening goal last weekend, and Mueller scored the team's third straight off the second half kickoff. Haile-Selassie made his first start for the Club last weekend after his offseason arrival from Swiss side FC Lugano, and was widely praised for his effort out wide.
- Tonight marks Mueller's 100th career start in MLS regular season play.
- After scoring his aforementioned first goal of the season last weekend, Przybyłko slots into the forward position for the fourth-straight match. He makes the 99th start of his MLS career this evening in Miami.
- Back in net is 19-year-old Homegrown product Chris Brady, who makes his third-straight start tonight.
- Available to Hendrickson as substitutions tonight are goalkeeper Spencer Richey, defender Alonso Aceves, defender Kendall Burks, defender Wyatt Omsberg, defender/midfielder Mauricio Pineda, midfielder Javier Casas Jr., forward Kei Kamara, forward Alex Monis, and forward Missael Rodriguez.
- Midfielder Jairo Torres (right upper leg), midfielder Federico Navarro (left upper leg), and midfielder Xherdan Shaqiri (right upper leg) are unavailable for selection due to injury tonight.
Take a look at how Inter Miami CF will start below as their lineup becomes available:
