After a point to start a three-game road swing at Red Bull Arena on Wednesday, the Fire will have another opportunity for three points at Citi Field when they take on Ronny Deila and NYCFC.
City are unbeaten in their last eight MLS matches and are, of course, the reigning MLS Cup Champions.
NYCFC have proven to be one of the most prolific attacking teams in the league so far with 23 goals scored which is T-1st in the Eastern Conference.
Here’s what to look for in the Gerber Collision and Glass Scouting Report ahead of Sunday’s affair in the Big Apple…
DYNAMIC AND BALANCED
NYCFC are one of the most balanced attacking teams in MLS. The front line is led by reigning Golden Boot winner, Taty Castellanos.
Castellanos will be sold to Europe sooner rather than later and for good reason. He has a plethora of finishes at his disposal, is good in the hold-up play and is surprisingly good in the air despite only being 5’10”.
Castellanos is joined by young starlets Talles Magno, Santiago Rodriguez and Thiago Andrade who are all fast, creative, technical players who love to get forward early and often.
I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention Maxi Moralez and everything he is capable of even at the age of 35.
The combination of them being able to stretch the field with their pace and ability to link up in tight spaces when in clear possession is why they are a problem for most teams they come across.
Not to mention Keaton Parkes and Alfredo Morales have a great understanding between each other.
With all of this said, NYCFC have also been sporting a strong defense that has given up the 2nd fewest goals in MLS. A large part of this is due to the fact they keep a lot of the ball and put you under pressure for close to 90 minutes. Of course, City also has two very good center backs in Alex Callens and newcomer Thiago Martins who has gotten the majority of minutes so far this season as opposed to Maxime Chanot.
The typical Ronny Deila 4-2-3-1 seems to be incredibly well-oiled right now and that is why they are one point off of Philadelphia for 1st place in the East with a game in hand.
FINAL THOUGHTS
The Fire are coming off another brutal result in which they deserved three points but ended up with just one and will play their third game in a week against one of the best teams in MLS.
Ezra Hendrickson and CO. certainly have their work cut out for them but this is not an impossible task by any stretch.
The key to this game will be defensive transition for Chicago and Gabriel Slonina, who just recently committed to the USMNT, will need to be sharp and make a few big saves if the Fire are going to have a chance to escape Citi Field with three points.
The Fire typically want to keep the ball and if they succeed then NYCFC will look to find space in behind the fullbacks of Chicago and really try to stretch the field, but they are also more than capable of breaking down Chicago in clear possession as they’ve shown against most MLS teams this season.
Chicago will need close to a complete performance if they want to achieve the desired result and given how close they were to a win just a few days ago, I think the boys will be more than up for the challenge.
Tony and I will have you covered on WGN and CF97 Live at 4 PM CT.