Seeking a third consecutive home win across all competitions, Charlotte FC square off against Chicago Fire at the Bank of America Stadium on Saturday.
The Fire head into the weekend on a run of three wins and one draw from their last four games in the MLS, and will look to maintain this solid run of results.
Match preview
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Charlotte FC returned to winning ways in the MLS as they cruised to a comfortable 3-0 victory over DC United when the sides met at the Bank of America Stadium on Wednesday night.
After taking the lead courtesy of a 13th-minute own goal from Steve Birnbaum, Karol Swiderski and Quinn McNeill netted second-half goals to condemn Wayne Rooney's side to their 13th defeat of the season.
Prior to that, Charlotte FC suffered consecutive league defeats at the hands of Inter Miami and Toronto FC, with a hard-fought penalty shootout victory over Chelsea in the Florida Cup on July 21 sandwiched between both losses.
With 29 points from 23 games, Christian Lattanzio's men are currently seventh in the Eastern Conference standings, level on points with Inter Miami and FC Cincinnati.
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On the other hand, Chicago Fire failed to move into the playoff places as they were held to a goalless draw by Atlanta United when the sides met last Saturday.
In an end-to-end affair at the Soldier Field, both sides were guilty of a wasteful display in front of goal as they squandered their scoring opportunities before settling for a share of the spoils.
Prior to that, Ezra Hendrickson's men were on a run of three consecutive victories, seeing off Toronto FC, Seattle Sounders and Vancouver White Caps while scoring six goals and conceding once in that time.
The Fire have picked up seven wins, six draws and lost 10 of their 23 games this season to collect 27 points and sit 10th in the Western division's table of the MLS, level on points with 11th-placed New England Revolution.
Chicago Fire head into the weekend winless in all but one of their last nine away games — losing seven and claiming one draw — with a 3-1 win at Vancouver Whitecaps on July 24 being the only exception.
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Team News
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Charlotte FC will take to the pitch without the services of Brazilian forward Vinicius Mello, who continues his long journey to full fitness after picking up a foot injury last August.
He is joined on the club's injury table by 19-year-old defender Adam Amour, who has been out of action since April through a meniscus problem.
As for Chicago Fire, Hendrickson will be unable to call upon the defensive duo of Jhon Espinoza and Wyatt Omsberg, who have been ruled out through knee and ligament injuries respectively.
Bulgarian forward Stanislav Ivanov is set to sit out his fourth consecutive game through injury, while goalkeeper Chris Brady is currently nursing an ankle issue.
Chris Mueller, who boasts five goal involvements in his last five games, has been instrumental in the Fire's recent resurgence and the 25-year-old will be one to keep an eye out for.
Gabriel Slonina recently completed a loan move to Chelsea, but the 18-year-old will retain his spot between the sticks for the visitors after returning to the club on loan until January.
Charlotte FC possible starting lineup:
Kahlina; Mora, Corujo, Walkes, Makoun; Bronico; Jozwiak, McNeill, Shinyashiki, Reyna; Swiderski
Chicago Fire possible starting lineup:
Slonina; Sekulic, Teran, Czichos, Navarro; Pineda, Navarro, Torres; Shaqiri, Mueller, Duran
We say: Charlotte FC 1-1 Chicago Fire
With just two points and three places separating Charlotte and Chicago Fire in the standings, we expect a thrilling and action-packed contest. Both sides head into the weekend in solid form and we predict that the spoils will be shared in this one.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Joshua Ojele
