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Chicago's 31st MLS match of the 2013 season will take place on a warm evening in the nation's capitol, against a team whose whiteboard read "Regen: Champagne" just a couple of days ago. Surely the Fire will take this game by the neck, win handily, and announce (yet again, yet again) their candidacy for the happier sort of mediocrity?
Suscribe to this gamethread to get automatic updates - we feature hilariously overwrought on-the-spot commentary (yes, I'm talking about me), and I'll write a game story which, hopefully, won't have to be a pensive meditation on the futility of fandom. Four back of fourth with four to play - at least the description of the task at hand has a nice rhythm to it.
As usual, look here for lineups about an hour before kickoff (NBCSN, 7 p.m. CDT).
Oh, prediction? It says here the Fire take care of business, 3-1, despite never quite dominating the way one would like.
Eastern Conference
| # | Club | PTS | GP | PPG | W | L | T | GF | GA | GD | HG | HGD | RG | RGD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | New York Red Bulls | 52 | 31 | 1.68 | 15 | 9 | 7 | 48 | 37 | 11 | 27 | 15 | 21 | -4 |
| 2 | Sporting Kansas City | 48 | 30 | 1.6 | 14 | 10 | 6 | 43 | 29 | 14 | 28 | 13 | 15 | 1 |
| 3 | Montreal Impact | 46 | 29 | 1.59 | 13 | 9 | 7 | 48 | 44 | 4 | 29 | 11 | 19 | -7 |
| 4 | Houston Dynamo | 44 | 30 | 1.47 | 12 | 10 | 8 | 38 | 37 | 1 | 23 | 9 | 15 | -8 |
| 5 | Philadelphia Union | 42 | 30 | 1.4 | 11 | 10 | 9 | 38 | 39 | -1 | 21 | 5 | 17 | -6 |
| 6 | Columbus Crew | 41 | 31 | 1.32 | 12 | 14 | 5 | 40 | 41 | -1 | 19 | 8 | 21 | -9 |
| 7 | New England Revolution | 41 | 30 | 1.37 | 11 | 11 | 8 | 42 | 34 | 8 | 26 | 12 | 16 | -4 |
| 8 | Chicago Fire | 40 | 30 | 1.33 | 11 | 12 | 7 | 38 | 45 | -7 | 28 | 7 | 10 | -14 |
| 9 | Toronto FC | 26 | 31 | 0.84 | 5 | 15 | 11 | 29 | 45 | -16 | 22 | 0 | 7 | -16 |
| 10 | D.C. United | 15 | 30 | 0.5 | 3 | 21 | 6 | 20 | 52 | -32 | 14 | -9 | 6 | -23 |