New England Revolution vs. Chicago Fire
2018 MLS Regular Season — Week 30
Gillette Stadium — Foxborough
Sept. 22 — 6:30 pm CT
WATCH: ESPN+
Two teams coming off positive results in Week 29 square off at Gillette Stadium Saturday night when the New England Revolution host the Chicago Fire.
The Revs rallied to earn a 1-1 draw at LAFC Saturday night — their third straight game without defeat — while the Fire snapped a nine-match winless streak with a convincing 4-0 rout of Orlando City SC.
This is the second meeting this season, with the teams playing to a 1-1 draw in Bridgeview on June 9. Bastian Schweinsteiger opened the scoring in the 63rd minute and Teal Bunbury struck for the late equalizer in the 82nd minute for the Revs.
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New England Revolution
After a home draw against the Portland Timbers and a massive win at NYCFC, New England (14-12-8) picked up a point in a 1-1 draw at LAFC Saturday night.
After Marco Urena put the hosts in front in the 52nd minute, Brandon Bye scored his first MLS goal 30 minutes later to secure a fifth point in the last three games for the Revs, who remain five points behind the playoff line in the East with six games remaining.
“We’re a team that fights, there’s no doubt about that,” Brad Friedel said. “The character in the locker room is good. To show the result we did against NYCFC, I thought we were the better team, I watched the game many times again. Against LAFC, created many chances, a shame the goal we conceded is of our own doing, nothing that they created. There’s a lot of positives we can take into the last six games.”
- Suspended: None
- Suspended after next caution: M - Kelyn Rowe, D - Antonio Delamea
- International duty: None
- Injury Report: OUT: D - Chris Tierney (torn right ACL)
Projected Starting XI
(4-2-3-1, right to left)
GK: Brad Knighton — Andrew Farrell, Antonio Delamea, Jalil Anibaba, Brandon Bye — Luis Caicedo, Scott Caldwell — Kelyn Rowe, Diego Fagundez, Cristian Penilla — Teal Bunbury
Chicago Fire
Perhaps absence does make the heart grow fonder. Returning from a 24-day layoff, Chicago (7-15-6) picked up three points for the first time since June 30 in a comprehensive 4-0 victory over Orlando.
Nemanja Nikolic scored the first of his two goals three minutes after kickoff and Aleksandar Katai doubled the lead just before the half hour mark. Michael de Leeuw, who has missed most of the season due to injury, made it 3-0 in the 56th minute and Nikolic added his second 20 minutes from full time.
“After the [Schweinsteiger testimonial] game in Munich, we did what we had to do,” Velko Paunovic said. “There was an adjustment of attitude, an adjustment in some things we had to do and then we worked very good. This was week was the best week of training so far.”
- Suspended: None
- Suspended after next caution: M - Jorge Corrales
- International duty: None
- Injury Report: OUT: D - Matt Polster (MCL surgery), GK - Patrick McLain (hamstring injury), M/D - Diego Campos (left MCL injury); QUESTIONABLE: D - Jonathan Campbell (left adductor injury), F - Luis Solignac (right adductor injury)
Projected Starting XI
(4-2-3-1, right to left)
GK: Richard Sanchez — Nicolas Hasler, Johan Kappelhof, Bastian Schweinsteiger, Brandon Vincent — Dax McCarty, Brandt Bronico — Aleksandar Katai, Djordje Mihailovic, Michael de Leeuw — Nemanja Nikolic
All-Time Series
- Overall: New England Revolution 21 wins, 78 goals … Chicago Fire 26 wins, 83 goals … 12 draws
- At New England: Revolution 16 wins, 42 goals … Fire 10 wins, 28 goals … 3 draws
- Last meeting at New England: New England Revolution 1, Chicago Fire 2 (June 17, 2017)
Officials
Referee: Joe Dickerson
Assistant Referees: Adam Wienckowski, Kevin Klinger
4th Official: Rubiel Vazquez
VAR: Geoff Gamble
