Fire, Union Eager to Impress Sunday Evening at Toyota Park

CHICAGO -- Two sides each heading into their first in-conference fixture of the 2015 campaign meet at 4 p.m. CT Sunday at Toyota Park as the Chicago Fire (0-3-0) host the Philadelphia Union (0-1-2).

The match leads off the weekly MLS Soccer Sunday double-header, with ESPN2 providing the national TV broadcast and ESPN Deportes 97.5 FM carrying the Spanish-language radio broadcast. At 6 p.m. CT, FOX Sports 1 will have the second leg of the action as Real Salt Lake welcomes Toronto FC to Rio Tinto Stadium.

Guests at Toyota Park on Sunday are invited to enjoy $2 Hot Dog Night Presented by Red Hot Chicago. Tickets are available online until 1 p.m. CT Sunday and may also be purchased on match day at Toyota Park.

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at Toyota Park in 2015

The Fire are tasked with securing the three points without the services of two of Frank Yallop’s key offseason signings, as midfielders Shaun Maloney (Scotland) and David Accam (Ghana) received call-ups to their respective national sides this week.

Their absences will require Frank Yallop to reassemble an attacking unit that was the more dangerous side in last week's match at San Jose, particularly following the halftime insertion of Accam to the lineup. Harry Shipp, the Fire goal-scorer against the Quakes, seems the obvious candidate to replace Maloney in pulling the strings in the midfield.

"Of course it falls on Harry because he’s an attacking player, but it falls on the attackers and the defenders because we want our fullbacks to get forward and into the box,” said assistant coach Marc Bircham, who oversaw training Thursday with Yallop nursing an illness. "Harry’s worked well with Shaun, I think Shaun’s done a lot of work linking with Harry and getting into more attacking areas. It’s a shame it’s missing, and it’s a massive blow that David’s been called up to Ghana because I think you see he brings a lot of excitement and pace."

How exactly Yallop chooses to build his Starting XI remains to be seen. Forward Quincy Amarikwa and midfielders Michael Stephens and Joevin Jones have all contributed from their starting positions and could be joined Sunday by the likes of Kennedy Igboananike, Guly do Prado or Alex in the attacking third.

"They've got a chance to shine," Bircham said. "They've got a chance to get into the team and show what they can do. You can show all you want in training but there's no better way than showing what you can do in a game. It's up to you to grab it with both hands."

CHICAGO FIRE VS. PHILADELPHIA UNION
• The Fire own a 4-5-4 all-time record in 13 previous meetings with the Union, with all three 2014 matchups seeing one side or the other score late to rescue a point. Two of those late equalizers came in second half stoppage time -- first a Sebastien Le Toux penalty kick in a 1-1 draw on July 19, and again with a Robert Earnshaw strike on Oct. 2.

• Philadelphia has scored 16 goals in the 13 matches while the Fire have tallied 15.

• Two members of the Fire face their hometown team. Captain Jeff Larentowicz, a native of Philadelphia, Pa. graduated from Chestnut Hill Academy where he lettered in soccer, basketball and golf. The Brown University graduate won back-to-back national championships with FC Delco Arsenal in 2002 and 2003. Defender Greg Cochrane also hails from nearby Holland, Pa. where he was a four-year starter at Council Rock High School South and represented FC Delco Hammerheads for seven years.

• Union head coach Jim Curtin was a member of the Fire for the first seven seasons of his professional career. Selected in the third round (29th overall) of the 2001 MLS SuperDraft, Curtin made 151 MLS Regular Season appearances for the Men in Red, winning the 2003 and 2006 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup championships and was named a 2004 MLS All-Star during his time with the Fire. In a special ceremony, Curtin retired as a member of the Fire on April 4, 2014.

• Union saw their winless streak to open the season reach three games – but lost for the first time in 2015 in the defeat by FC Dallas in a game delayed a day by weather. The Union found themselves down to 10 men following a first-half red card issued to Zach Pfeffer.

“We have to go on the road and get a result now. We’ve got behind the 8-ball but you have to win your home games. Ideally, I had us on six points in three games. We’re on two points now but the goal was a least six or more so we’re behind,” said Union manager Jim Curtin. “We have to go somewhere now and win on the road which is difficult in our league. It’s difficult to get wins in our league, let alone win on the road.”

• Union still have yet to score a goal at PPL Park in two matches, now 199 minutes since their last goal before their faithful. A year ago Union scored 30 goals in home matches, second-most among Eastern Conference clubs.

• The Union will look to recent signing Fernando Aristeguieta as a lethal striking force in the final third. He has scored two of the three goals for the Union this season, with the third coming off an own-goal that he helped cause as he appears to be developing quickly to the style of play in the MLS.

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