The time has come.
After nearly 15 years, the Chicago Fire return to Soldier Field at last on Tuesday night when they take on FC Cincinnati for a 2020 regular season showdown.
Kickoff comes to you tonight on WGN-TV, ESPN+, and 105.1 WOJO-HD2 as head coach Raphael Wicky and the Fire look to make a statement in their first match back at the iconic downtown Chicago venue.
Ahead of the opening whistle, take a look below at how he's lined up his side for the Eastern Conference affair:
- Wicky has made one change to the starting lineup that took on Columbus Crew SC last Thursday. Midfielder Fabian Herbersreturns to make his fifth start of 2020, while Djordje Mihailovićwill be available as a substitute this evening.
- 2020 Homegrown signing and Bolingbrook, Ill. native Mauricio Pinedagets the opportunity to start in one of his city's most iconic venues, earning his seventh opening nod of the season. He and captain Francisco Calvo will make up the Fire's central defensive pairing
- After making his Fire debut last week against Columbus, goalkeeper Bobby Shuttleworth is back in net in place of the injured Kenneth Kronholm. He earns his 187th career MLS regular season appearance.
- Fresh off of a call-in to the Poland National Team, Przemysław Frankowski makes his 31st Fire appearance tonight.
- The trio of Ignacio Aliseda, Gastón Giménez and Álvaro Medránwill start alongside one another in midfield for the third straight outing tonight looking to spark the Fire attack.
- Forward Robert Berić leads the line for the Fire evening, and will look for his third goal of the season in his seventh Fire start.
- 2020 newcomers Boris Sekulić and Miguel Navarro will take up the wide channels defensively for Wicky's side, earning their fifth and sixth appearances for the Club, respectively.
- The remaining players available to Wicky as substitutions tonight are midfielders Micheal Azira, Brandt Bronico, Elliot Collier, Djordje Mihailovićand Brian Gutiérrez, defenders Jonathan Bornstein, Wyatt Omsberg and Andre Reynolds II, and goalkeeper Connor Sparrow.
- Kronholm (knee), defenders Johan Kappelhof(hip flexor) and Jeremiah Gutjahr (knee), and midfielder Luka Stojanović (knee) are out for tonight's match.
- CJ Sapong is unavailable due to an excused absence from team activities to attend to a personal matter.
Get a look at both team's starting lineups as they're available in the graphics below:
