Chicago Fire Host FC Dallas Sunday in Battle for Brimstone Cup

Playing on more than four days rest for the first time since July 11, a re-energized Chicago Fire side welcomes Western Conference-leading FC Dallas to Toyota Park Sunday in a match presented by Quaker. The game is set for a 6 p.m. CT kickoff, with FOX Sports 1 providing the national broadcast as part of Major League Soccer's "Soccer Sunday" coverage. 
The first 5,000 fans through the gates at Toyota Park Sunday night will receive a free Chicago Fire lunch tin courtesy of Quaker. 

Chicago Fire vs. FC Dallas

These two sides compete annually for the Brimstone Cup, awarded since 2001 by the supporters of the two teams to the club that gains the most points from the regular season meetings. If the teams are tied on points, potential MLS Cup playoff and Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup meetings can serve as tiebreakers. As Sunday's clash marks the only regular season match between the two sides in 2015, the winner of this match will take the Brimstone Cup outright. Chicago, which owns a 10-8-2 all-time record at home against FC Dallas, has held the Brimstone Cup for the past three seasons. 
FC Dallas enters the weekend as one of MLS' hottest sides, having won five in a row and accruing 16 points in its last six matches. Óscar Pareja’s team stands tied with D.C. United for most points in MLS (38) but with two games in hand on their Eastern Conference counterparts. Leading scorers Fabián Castillo and Mauro Díaz have hit their stride, combining for seven goals and three assists in the last four games.
Chicago will be striving to replicate the stout defensive effort it put forth against the Kaká-led Orlando City SC attack on July 22, when it limited the Lions to a single shot on goal. But FC Dallas boasts far more weapons than just Castillo and Díaz; Michael Barrios and 20-year-old Homegrown Kellyn Acosta each have been dynamic going forward.

Fire head coach Frank Yallop understands the challenge presented by the visitors, but he feels Sunday's result might be more dependent on how his own team performs.
“We’re at home," he said. "I feel confident we can have a good performance at home, but we have to start learning from our mistakes. I’m not blaming any one individual, but we [conceded a] very, very soft goal, the second goal that really loses us the [points]. I’m not pointing fingers, but we don’t get goals like that. We’ve got to really work for ours.”
Yallop intimated a possible return to the pitch for captain and centerback Jeff Larentowicz, who has not played since June 24 against DC United but returned to full training earlier this week. Prior to his neck injury, he had started all 15 regular season games. “If he’s feeling great, he’ll play,” Yallop said succinctly.
Yallop also brought up some other potential changes to the lineup leading into Sunday’s game. He said Lovel Palmer is looking “real sharp” and could make his first appearance since July 15, and if he does, Matt Polster could be headed back to the midfield.
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Things could change, but Yallop is just happy to have options. At present, the Fire may be managing fewer injuries and absences than they have all season and are ready to try and make a run. The team on the training field doesn’t look like one with just 19 points to its name.
“The spirit’s been good,” Yallop said. “I’ve been a few times in this sort of position when you’re not getting the results you deserve or you feel a little bit hard done by, and teams tend to fold. This team’s not. I think we all know we’re better than what the table shows, which is a positive.”

REFEREE: Jair Marrufo. AR1 (bench): Eric Boria; AR2 (opposite): Peter Balciunas; 4th: Fotis Bazakos
MLS Career: 186 games; FC/gm: 23.4; Y/gm: 2.9; R: 34; pens: 53
SUSPENDED: none
SUSPENDED NEXT YELLOW CARD: CHI: Eric Gehrig, Guly do Prado … DAL: Atiba Harris, Ryan Hollingshead
SUSPENDED AFTER TWO YELLOW CARDS: CHI: Chris Ritter, Adailton … DAL: Matt Hedges, Victor Ulloa, Dan Kennedy
DISABLED LIST: none
INTERNATIONAL ABSENCES: none
HEAD-TO-HEAD
ALL-TIME (38 meetings): Fire 14 wins (1 shootout), 59 goals … FC Dallas 20 wins (2 shootout), 70 goals … Ties 4
AT CHICAGO (20 meetings): Fire 10 wins (1 shootout), 34 goals … FC Dallas 8 wins (1 shootout), 30 goals … Ties 2

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