MX23RW : Sunday, December 15 15:16:49| >> :600:3779511:3779511:
[monks data]
Chicago Fire
Major League Soccer | Gameweek 1
Apr 18, 2021 at 1.30am UK
Soldier Field
New England Revolution

Chicago Fire
2 - 2
New England

Beric (5'), Stojanovic (11')
Kappelhof (79')
FT(HT: 2-2)
Buksa (14'), Bou (27')

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

Sports Mole previews Sunday's Major League Soccer clash between Chicago Fire and New England Revolution, including predictions, team news and possible lineups.

Chicago Fire will begin their 2021 MLS regular season on Saturday when they host the New England Revolution at Soldier Field.

The Fire won three of their six pre-season games, while the Revolution picked up just one win in their five tune-up matches.


Match preview

Chicago Fire head coach Raphael Wicky looks on during the first half against the New York City at Red Bull Arena in August 2020© Reuters

Chicago have struggled in the MLS regular season recently, missing the playoffs in each of their last three campaigns, although they were only one point away from making the postseason in 2020.

Swiss manager Raphael Wicky is heading into his second campaign in charge with a relatively unchanged team from last term as he hopes that his ideas will be well ingrained in the heads of his players.

Wicky will be demanding a greater level of consistency this time around, though, having won only two of their final 10 regular season games in 2020, including two losses in the MLS is Back tournament.

The Fire were at their best at home in 2020, with all four of their regular-season victories coming at Soldier Field by an aggregate score of 11-1, although they were beaten four times on home turf too.

Fresh off the back of a season that saw them reach the Eastern Conference Finals, the Revolution are hungry to do even better in 2021.

Under manager Bruce Arena, New England took another step forward last season in what was their best-ever finish to an MLS campaign.

The Revolution have never won the MLS Cup, but given their depth and experience heading into this season, they will have the belief that they can bring home the title to Greater Boston.

In 2020 they were pretty comfortable on the road, winning six regular-season games away from Foxborough while losing only three. They also won twice in the 2020 MLS Cup playoffs as the visiting team.

New England are unbeaten in their last three regular season matches versus the Fire.

Chicago Fire preseason form:

  • W
  • W
  • L
  • D
  • W
  • L

New England Revolution preseason form:

  • L
  • W
  • D
  • W
  • D


Team News

New England Revolution coach Bruce Arena during the first half against the Chicago Fire at Gillette Stadium in March 2020© Reuters

Bulgarian winger Stanislav Ivanov will miss the first half of the season for Chicago after undergoing knee surgery which means they may have to rely on midfielder Alvaro Medran as the sole provider early on.

The departures of Djordje Mihailovic and CJ Sapong will put added pressure on Robert Beric to repeat his strong performance in 2020, when he scored 12 goals for the Fire.

New England added some solid depth players in the off-season to complement an already strong team.

Wilfrid Kaptoum should fill a void in central midfield, while left-back Christian Mafla brings plenty of experience at the back, having made over 190 appearances over the past 10 seasons at club level in Colombia.

The Revs will depend on Carles Gil to create scoring opportunities - he has led the team in assists over the past two seasons - while Teal Bunbury led New England in scoring with eight goals last season and will hope to get into double figures for only the second time in his MLS career.

Chicago Fire possible starting lineup:
Shuttleworth; Bornstein, Calvo, Pineda, Espinoza; Gimenez, Medran, Herbers, Aliseda, Frankowski; Beric

New England Revolution possible starting lineup:
Turner; Kessler, Farrell, Mafla, Bye; Kaptoum, Polster, Traustason, Bou, Gil; Buksa


SM words green background

We say: Chicago Fire 0-2 New England Revolution


The Fire are notoriously slow starters and have not won a regular season opener since 2009.

New England thrived on the road last season, and with some strong balance at every position and an experienced coach who knows what it takes to win, they will be eager to fly out of the gates with a win on Saturday.



Top tip

Our expert tipster partners at Sporita.com are predicting a double chance bet on a home win or an away win in this match. Click here to find out what else they are predicting for this game and for more of their tried-and-tested football tips.Home/Away:data



ID:443081:1false2false3false:QQ:: from db desktop :LenBod:collect8137:
Written by
Joel Lefevre

Data Analysis

Our analysis of all available data, including recent performances and player stats up until an hour before kickoff, suggested the most likely outcome of this match was a Chicago Fire win with a probability of 46.32%. A win for New England Revolution had a probability of 29.05% and a draw had a probability of 24.6%.

The most likely scoreline for a Chicago Fire win was 1-0 with a probability of 9.51%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 2-1 (9.32%) and 2-0 (7.64%). The likeliest New England Revolution win was 0-1 (7.23%), while for a drawn scoreline it was 1-1 (11.61%). The actual scoreline of 2-2 was predicted with a 5.7% likelihood.


Previews by email

Click here to get Sports Mole's daily email of previews and predictions for every major game!



Game History

How you voted: Chicago Fire vs New England

Chicago Fire
50.0%
Draw
16.7%
New England Revolution
33.3%
6
Collect / Create New Data
Share this article now:
A general view of the stadium prior to kickoff during the UEFA Champions League Round of 16 match between FC Barcelona and Manchester City at Camp Nou on March 12, 2014
Read Next:
Kaptoum expresses Enrique gratitude
>
Sports Mole Logo
Enter your email address to subscribe to Sports Mole's free match previews newsletter! Updates are sent twice a week.
rhs 2.0
Today's games header
6pm
Chiefs
@
Browns
6pm
Ravens
@
Giants
6pm
Jets
@
Jags
6pm
Cowboys
@
Panthers
6pm
Washington
@
Saints
6pm
Dolphins
@
Texans
6pm
Bengals
@
Titans
9.25pm
Colts
@
Broncos
9.25pm
Patriots
@
Cardinals
9.25pm
Buccaneers
@
Chargers
9.25pm
Steelers
@
Eagles
9.25pm
Bills
@
Lions
Tables header RHS

Eastern Conference

TeamPWDLFAGDPTS
1Inter MiamiInter Miami34228479493074
2Columbus Crew34199672403266
3FC CincinnatiCincinnati341851158481059
4Orlando City34157125950952
5Charlotte FCCharlotte FC34149114637951
6New York City FCNY City34148125449550
7New York Red BullsNY Red Bulls34111495550547
8CF MontrealMontreal341110134864-1643
9Atlanta UnitedAtlanta341010144649-340
10DC United341010145270-1840
11Philadelphia UnionPhiladelphia34910156255737
12Toronto34114194061-2137
13Nashville SCNashville3499163854-1636
14New England RevolutionNew England3494213774-3731
15Chicago Fire3479184062-2230

Western Conference

TeamPWDLFAGDPTS
1Los Angeles FCLos Angeles34197863432064
2Los Angeles GalaxyLA Galaxy34197869501964
3Real Salt LakeSalt Lake341611765481759
4Seattle SoundersSeattle34169951351657
5Houston DynamoHouston34159104739854
6Minnesota UnitedMinnesota Utd34157125849952
7Colorado RapidsColorado34155146160150
8Portland TimbersPortland341211116556947
9Vancouver WhitecapsVancouver34138135249347
10Austin FCAustin34119143948-942
11Dallas34118155456-241
12St Louis City34813135063-1337
13Sporting Kansas CityKansas3487195166-1531
14San Jose EarthquakesEarthquakes3463254178-3721


Sports Mole provides in-depth previews and predictions for every match from the biggest leagues and competitions in world football.
Argentina's Lionel Messi kisses the World Cup trophy after collecting the Golden Ball award on December 18, 2022Sign up for our FREE daily preview newsletter direct to your inbox!