Chicago Fire will look to put an end to a three-game losing run on Thursday, when they play host to New England Revolution, who sit at the top of the Major League Soccer Eastern Conference standings.
The hosts currently sit in 12th spot in the Conference, while their visitors boast a 15-point lead over second-placed Nashville SC at this stage.
Match preview
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After narrowly missing out on a top-ten finish last time around, Chicago Fire have again had a difficult campaign this term, and now occupy 12th spot.
Raphael Wicky's side have won just six of their 25 league games so far, and sit on a tally of 23 points.
Their struggles have largely come in defence, with only two sides in the Eastern Conference conceding more than the 40 goals that the Solder Field outfit have shipped in those 25 matches.
They now come into Thursday's clash in a run of three straight defeats, having lost to Sporting Kansas City and DC United before falling to a 2-0 defeat at the hands of CF Montreal last time out.
A Romell Quioto goal on the hour mark and a Carlos Teran own goal saw Wicky's side handed their 14th league loss of the campaign, and they will now be desperate to reverse their fortunes and climb the table.
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They meet a side who find themselves in a far different situation, with an eye-catching lead at the summit of the Conference.
An impressive record of 17 wins and 56 points from their opening 26 league outings has seen Bruce Arena's men move 15 points ahead of second-placed Nashville, albeit having played two more matches.
That has largely come down to their dangerous attack, with no side in either MLS Conference matching their tally of 48 goals at this stage.
Having previously picked up back-to-back wins over Philadelphia Union and New York City, they now head into the trip to Chicago on the back of a somewhat disappointing draw with Columbus Crew.
Gyasi Zardes put their opponents ahead on the hour mark, and, while Adam Buksa immediately levelled the scores, they were unable to turn their domination into a winning goal.
With the playoffs looming, Arena's men will look to keep building momentum, and make a return to winning ways on Thursday.
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Team News
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Chicago Fire have several issues to deal with, as Kenneth Kronholm will remain out of action while Francisco Cervo and Ignacio Aliseda are both major doubts.
Chinoso Offor and Stanislav Ivanov should again lead the line, while Jonathan Bornstein, Mauricio Pineda and Carlos Teran will likely form the back three at the other end of the pitch, despite the latter scoring an own goal last time out.
New England Revolution will come in with a clean bill of health, after Gustavo Bou's recent return from injury.
Matt Polster has also returned to boost the squad, after he recently served a suspension for an accumulation of yellow cards.
Their line will be led by Adam Buksa, who has hit 11 goals in 25 MLS appearances this season.
Chicago Fire possible starting lineup:
Slonina; Teran, Pineda, Bornstein; Stekulic, Stojanovic, F Navarro, Herbers, M Navarro; Nnamdi, Ivanov
New England Revolution possible starting lineup:
Turner; Bye, Farrell, Kessler, Jones; Buchanan, Polster, McNamara; Gil; Buksa, Bou
We say: Chicago Fire 0-2 New England Revolution
Given their record of the two sides, we expect New England Revolution to simply be too strong for their opponents on Thursday.
The hosts have leaked goals throughout the campaign while not being convincing going forward, potentially setting them up to be outclassed by the Conference leaders.
Top tip
Sam Varley
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 New England Revolution win with a probability of 38.83%. A win for Chicago Fire had a probability of 36.52% and a draw had a probability of 24.6%.
The most likely scoreline for a New England Revolution win was 1-2 with a probability of 8.54%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 0-1 (7.99%) and 0-2 (5.95%). The likeliest Chicago Fire win was 2-1 (8.24%), while for a drawn scoreline it was 1-1 (11.47%). The actual scoreline of 2-3 was predicted with a 3% likelihood. Our data analysis correctly predicted that New England Revolution would win this match.
