A place in the MLS is Back Tournament Knockout Round is on the line on Sunday night, as the Chicago Fire take on Group B leaders the San Jose Earthquakes at 7 p.m. CT from the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex in Orlando, FL.
Head coach Raphael Wicky and his side secured all three points from their tournament opener on Tuesday -- a 2-1 win against the Seattle Sounders. With a win tonight, the Fire can jump back into the top spot in Group B and guarantee their advancement to the competition's Round of 16. The Earthquakes enter the match with four points from two matches already played, and can lock up advancement and first place in the group with a win of their own.
As the pivotal interconference clash gets set to kickoff on FS1 and TUDN, here's how Wicky will send out his team to take on the 'Quakes:
- Two changes have been made to the starting XI that upended the Sounders last week as a pair of 2020 newcomers are set to receive their first Fire starts: Miguel Angel Navarro slots into the defensive back line for Jonathan Bornstein, and Luka Stojanović enters for Fabian Herbers. Stojanović made his Fire debut on Tuesday as a second half substitution.
- After scoring his second goal of the season last week, Robert Berić will lead the Fire attacking unit from the outset alongside CJ Sapong. Berić praised he and Sapong's chemistry up top coming out of their first time playing alongside one another on Tuesday.
- Mauricio Pineda will look to keep his run of form going against the Earthquakes this evening, earning his fourth straight start for the Fire. The 2020 Homegrown signing's first professional goal helped down the Sounders on Tuesday.
- Designated Player Gastón Giménez is back in the starting XI after earning his first assist for the Club on Tuesday by serving in the corner kick that Pineda finished on the match-winning goal.
- Defender Boris Sekulić led the team with 12 defensive actions in his Club debut on Tuesday (according to Opta) and earns his second Fire start tonight.
- Defender Francisco Calvo will wear the captain's armband on Tuesday, which features a custom Black Lives Matter patch designed by Chicago artist Dwight White.
- Przemysław Frankowski makes his 35th appearance for the Fire in what will be his 28th start.
- Álvaro Medrán completes the Fire's midfield triad alongside Giménez and Stojanović, marking the first time all three 2020 newcomers will start together.
- Goalkeeper Kenneth Kronholm earns his 23rd Fire appearance in net.
- Potential Fire debutantes available today off the bench include defender Nicholas Slonina, midfielders Ignacio Aliseda and Javier Casas, and goalkeepers Connor Sparrow and Gabriel Slonina. Per the competition guidelines, the Fire will be allowed up to five substitutions.
- The remaining players available to Wicky as substitutions today are midfielders Brandt Bronico, Elliot Collier, Fabian Herbers, and Djordje Mihailović, and defenders Jonathan Bornstein, Wyatt Omsberg and Andre Reynolds II.
- Defender Johan Kappelhof(quad) and midfielder Micheal Azira (eye) are listed as out. Both players will join the team in Orlando pending their respective recoveries.
Get a look at both side's starting lineups as they're available in the graphics below:
