Preview: Chicago Fire vs. New England Revolution - prediction, team news, lineups

Chicago Fire welcome New England Revolution to Soldier Field on the final day of the MLS league season this Sunday.

Neither side can finish inside the playoffs, but victory for Chicago along with a six-goal swing will see them leapfrog their opponents in the table.

Match preview

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Chicago come into the final game on the back of an impressive 3-2 victory against FC Cincinnati last Sunday, which was their first victory on the road since August's win at Charlotte FC, which also finished 3-2.

All five goals in the game against Cincinnati came in the second half, when Chicago raced into a 3-0 lead thanks to a Jhon Duran brace and a Brian Gutierrez strike.

Cincinnati did pull back two late goals via Luciano Acosta and Brandon Vazquez, but it was too late to deny Chicago victory.

The 3-2 scoreline seems to be something of a theme, as this was the score in Chicago's most recent home game when they were beaten by Charlotte in September.

Jhon Duran also scored in that game, giving the Colombian three goals in five, and eight in 26 for the campaign.

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For New England, they come into this game on the back of a 2-1 home victory against Atlanta United last Sunday.

A Giacomo Vrioni penalty was cancelled out late on by Josef Martinez, before Gustavo Bou struck in the 85th minute to give the Revs victory.

New England's last victory on the road came against Orlando City in a 3-0 win back in August, and Bruce Arena's side have only won three times away from home in the league this season.

Gustavo Bou is New England's top scorer in MLS, having netted eight goals in 18 appearances, so the Argentine will need to be at his best if the Revs are to take maximum points from Soldier Field.

The last meeting between the two sides finished 0-0 in September, and although New England dominated possession and chances, neither side were able to find a breakthrough.

Team News

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For Chicago, Ezra Hendrickson will be without Gaston Gimenez and Wyatt Omsberg, the former of whom had hoped to be fit before the end of the season.

Polish forward Kacper Przybylko is also sidelined for this game with a back injury sustained against Columbus Crew last month.

DeJuan Jones could potentially make the bench here, although the left-back is seen as doubtful due to a leg injury.

Elsewhere, Ismael Tajouri-Shradi and Jacob Jackson are both ruled out for the away side once again.

Dylan Borrero has made two consecutive appearances from the bench, so the winger could be pushing for a start here in place of Nacho Gil.

Chicago Fire possible starting lineup:

Richey; Sekulic, Teran, Czichos, Bornstein; Navarro, Pineda; Ivanov, Gutierrez, Mueller; Duran

New England Revolution possible starting lineup:

Petrovic; Bye, Farrell, Kessler, Spaulding; McNamara, Polster; N. Gil, C. Gil, Bou; Vrioni

We say: Chicago Fire 1-1 New England Revolution

There was nothing to separate the two sides in the last meeting, and with nothing of note to play for it would be hard to expect a high-scoring game. The teams are most likely to cancel each other out and end the season sharing the spoils.

For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.