Chicago Fire FC returns to Soldier Field on Saturday night for a nationally-televised meeting with Inter Miami CF in what will be the first-ever meeting between the two clubs.
Miami, a 2020 expansion side, enter the match coming out of a road victory against FC Cincinnati last weekend in which former Real Madrid forward Gonzalo Higuaín scored a brace and earned MLS Player of the Week honors. The Fire will look to take advantage of the home crowd behind them and pick up their first win of the season along the lakefront.
Ahead of the 5 p.m. CT kickoff on UniMás, TUDN, Twitter and WOJO 105.1FM HD-3, get the details on head coach Raphael Wicky's starting XI to take on Miami.
- One change has been made to the opening lineup from the Fire's last outing at D.C. United on May 13.
- Midfielder Fabian Herbers gets his first start of 2021, having fully recovered from a right knee injury. Herbers made his 2021 debut in D.C. in a 30 minute substitute appearance. He replaces Gastón Giménez, who picked up a right hip injury in that same match.
- Homegrown product Brian Gutiérrez gets his second-straight start tonight. The 17-year-old earned his first career start against D.C. last time out, and nearly found the back of the net on two occasions. The occasion made him the youngest Homegrown signing and third-youngest player overall in Club history to start for the Fire.
- Joining Herbers in midfield are Álvaro Medrán, and Mauricio Pineda. They'll look to provide support for forwards Gutiérrez, Przemysław Frankowski, and Robert Berić at the top of tonight's Fire attack.
- Defender Miguel Navarro also returns to the opening XI for the second-straight match after making his first start in D.C. He'll rejoin Boris Sekulić, Wyatt Omsberg, and captain Francisco Calvo in the back line ahead of goalkeeper Bobby Shuttleworth.
- Available to Wicky as substitutions tonight are goalkeeper Gabriel Slonina, defender Jhon Espinoza, defender Carlos Terán, defender Jonathan Bornstein, defender Johan Kappelhof, midfielder Javier Casas Jr., midfielder Elliot Collier, midfielder Luka Stojanović, and forward Chinonso Offor.
- Midfielder Stanislav Ivanov (left knee), midfielder Ignacio Aliseda (left thigh), midfielder Gastón Giménez (right hip), defender Nick Slonina (health and safety protocols) and goalkeeper Kenneth Kronholm (right knee) are out for tonight's match.
Get a look at both team's starting lineups as they're available in the graphics below:
