The Chicago Fire are back home for a Friday night visit from the Vancouver Whitecaps at SeatGeek Stadium seeking to make it three-straight matches unbeaten.
With head coach Veljko PaunoviÄ's starting XI released ahead of tonight's 7:30 p.m. CT kickoff, read up on today's lineup, presented by AT&T:
- Midfielder NicolĂĄs GaitĂĄn gets his first Fire start after debuting on March 30 against the New York Red Bulls as a second half substitution and making a second appearance off the bench in last weekâs 2-2 road draw at Toronto FC.
- Midfielder Dax McCarty captains the side and makes his 60th start for the Fire in MLS regular season play.
- After scoring his first goal of 2019 last weekend in Toronto, forward Nemanja NikoliÄ suits up for his 70th appearance in regular season play for the Fire.
- Goalkeeper David Ousted -- who appeared 145 times for the Whitecaps and remains the clubâs all-time leader in saves (441) -- gets his sixth start for the Fire in net.
- PaunoviÄ begins with the same back four for the third straight match, as Johan Kappelhof, Bastian Schweinsteiger, Marcelo, and rookie Jeremiah Gutjahr get the respective nods from the outset.
- Midfielder PrzemysĆaw Frankowski and forward Fabian Herbers joined defenders Raheem Edwards, Jorge Corrales and Andre Reynolds II remain unavailable for today's match on the prematch injury report.
View complete lineups for both sides in the graphics below:
