Unbeaten in three straight, the Fire take their run of form on the road on Wednesday night when they face Sporting Kansas City at Children's Mercy Park.
Head coach Raphael Wicky's side (4-7-4, 16 pts.) have improved their postseason stock with seven points taken from the last two weeks, and will look to continue their Eastern Conference climb with a win away from home tonight. Kansas City (7-5-2, 23 pts.) were 2-1 winners on the road in Houston over the weekend, but have dropped two-straight matches at home. Still, they currently sit in third place in the West.
With kickoff set for 7:30 p.m. CT on ESPN+, here's how Wicky will send out his side against SKC at kickoff:
- Two changes have been made to Wicky's starting lineup from last Saturday's draw against Montreal. Replacing Gastón Giménez and Miguel Navarro-- both currently away on international duty -- are Jonathan Bornstein and Brandt Bronico, who gets his third start of the season.
- Bronico will slot into the midfield alongside Ălvaro MedrĂĄn and Fabian Herbers. MedrĂĄn served up the cross on Calvo's equalizer over the weekend and earned his fourth assist of the season.
- Forward Robert BeriÄ makes the 15th start of his Fire career, and will set a new Club record for consecutive games with a goal (six) should he score against Kansas City this evening.
- Captain Francisco Calvo scored the equalizer Saturday against the Impact and was named Heineken Man of the Match for his performance. As usual, he will partner Mauricio Pineda in central defense tonight.
- Out wide, Djordje MihailoviÄis on pace for the most productive season of his career in the assist category. The 21-year-old's clever flick to BeriÄ for the opener against Montreal was his fourth assist of the season, matching his single-season career high with eight matches remaining. He'll line up opposite Ignacio Aliseda for the fourth-straight match tonight.
- Defender Boris SekuliÄmakes his 14th start for the Fire lined up opposite Bornstein.
- Goalkeeper Bobby Shuttleworth inches closer to a memorable MLS milestone, earning his 195th career regular season appearance in the league tonight.
- Available to Wicky as substitutions tonight are forward CJ Sapong, midfielders Micheal Azira, , PrzemysĆaw Frankowski, Brian GutiĂ©rrez and Elliot Collier, defenders Johan Kappelhof, Wyatt Omsberg, andAndre Reynolds IIand goalkeeperConnor Sparrow.
- GoalkeeperKenneth Kronholm, defenderJeremiah Gutjahr, and midfielder Luka StojanoviÄare not medically cleared for tonight's match.
Get a look at both team's starting lineups as they're available in the graphics below:
