Chicago Fire FC is set to welcome Eastern Conference foes the New York Red Bulls to Soldier Field on Saturday night for what's shaping up to be a blustery affair along the lakefront.
Head Coach Ezra Hendrickson will be looking to get his team back in the win column in front of the home fans coming out of a 3-0 defeat to Minnesota United on the road last weekend. The Red Bulls enter the match in particularly good road form, having won all four of their matches away from home so far this season.
Tune in for coverage of tonight's match on WGN, CF97 Live, and Univision Radio when the opening whistle blows at 7 p.m. CT, or find additional coverage available on MLS LIVE's out-of-market package on ESPN+. Ahead of kickoff, get the scoop on Hendrickson's starting XI and bench below:
- Three changes have been made from last week's opening XI that took on Minnesota United.
- Forward Jhon Durán will receive his first career MLS regular season start in place of Kacper Przybyłko, who is unavailable tonight with a left calf injury.
- Forward Chinonso Offor will make his first regular season start of 2022 for the Fire tonight as part of the attacking unit. Offor scored a brace for Chicago Fire II in the team's last outing, a 3-3 draw against Philadelphia Union II that finished with a 5-4 penalty shootout win for Fire II at home.
- Mauricio Pineda returns to midfield tonight to spell Federico Navarro, who will miss tonight's match while serving a one-game suspension after receiving two yellow cards against Minnesota last weekend. Pineda will partner with Gastón Giménez as a deep-lying tandem this evening.
- Having returned from an injury absence last weekend, Xherdan Shaqiri will make a second-straight MLS start tonight at Soldier Field. He and Brian Gutiérrez will round out the Fire midfield at the outset.
- Hendrickson's preferred back four of full backs Miguel Navarro and Boris Sekulić and center backs Rafael Czichos and Wyatt Omsberg will start together for the seventh time this season.
- Backstopping that group is 17-year-old goalkeeper Gabriel Slonina, who will look for his sixth clean sheet of the season in his ninth start.
- Available to Hendrickson as substitutions tonight are goalkeeper Chris Brady, defender Kendall Burks, defender Jonathan Bornstein, defender Jhon Espinoza, defender Carlos Terán, forward Victor Bezerra, forward Stanislav Ivanov, forward Alex Monis, and forward Missael Rodríguez.
- Forward Fabian Herbers (right hip), forward Kacper Przybyłko (left calf), and goalkeeper Spencer Richey (head) are unavailable for selection tonight due to injury.
Get a look at New York's starting lineup below as it becomes available:
