Lineup Notes | Chicago Fire FC at Columbus Crew SC

After weeks of waiting, the Chicago Fire are back in action at last on Thursday night as they resume 2020 regular season play in Columbus against Crew SC.

Head coach Raphael Wicky and his men will look to climb the Eastern Conference standings against the current league leaders when they kickoff at 6:30 p.m. CT on WGN-TV, ESPN+ and TUDN 1200AM.

With tonight's Fire starting XI now released ahead of the opening whistle, get a look below at how the Fire will lineup for tonight's clash against the Crew:

• Goalkeeper Bobby Shuttleworth makes his Fire debut in net in place of the injured Kenneth Kronholm. It will be his 186th career MLS regular season appearance.
• Young Designated Player Ignacio Aliseda is back in the opening XI for the second consecutive match, after receiving his first Fire start in the team's group stage match against the Vancouver Whitecaps at the MLS is Back Tournament.
• Djordje Mihailović returns to the starting lineup for the first time since the team's 1-1 draw at New England on March 7. Mihailović has two assists in four appearances so far this season.
• Forward Robert Berić leads the attack this evening, looking for his third goal of the season. Including tonight, the Slovenian international has started each of the Fire's six matches so far in 2020.
• Przemysław Frankowski hits a mini-milestone this evening, making his 30th start for the Fire since being acquired prior to the 2019 season.
• Gastón Giménez and Álvaro Medrán will continue to sharpen their chemistry in midfield as they start together for the fourth consecutive match.
• In front of Shuttleworth, captain Francisco Calvo and Homegrown rookie Mauricio Pineda return as the Fire's central defensive pairing.
• 2020 newcomers Boris Sekulić and Miguel Navarro will man the wide channels defensively for the Fire. Sekulić starts his fourth consecutive match, after debuting in the Fire's opening match at the MLS is Back Tournament. It will be Navarro's fifth appearance.
• Potential Fire debutantes available off the bench tonight include midfielder Brian Gutiérrezand goalkeeper Connor Sparrow.
• The remaining players available to Wicky as substitutions tonight are midfielders Micheal Azira, Brandt Bronico, Elliot Collierand Fabian Herbers, as well as defenders Jonathan Bornstein, Wyatt Omsberg and Andre Reynolds II.
• Kronholm (knee), defenders Johan Kappelhof(hip flexor) and Jeremiah Gutjahr (knee), and midfielder Luka Stojanović (knee) are out for tonight's match.
• Following an excused absence from team activities to attend to a personal matter, CJ Sapong is currently in Chicago adhering to a mandatory quarantine. 

Get a look at both team's starting lineups as they're available in the graphics below: