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It’s finally here. The Chicago Fire’s long awaited return to Soldier Field is tonight, when the team hosts FC Cincinnati at 6:30 p.m. CT. Sure, it won’t be the same without fans in the stands, but it still feels good to have the Fire back in Chicago.
Cincinnati enters the match on a nice regular season unbeaten run—wins over Atlanta United and the New York Red Bulls in the group stage of the MLS is Back Tournament, plus a draw last week with DC United. Under new coach Jaap Stam, the team has switched to a 5-3-2 formation with a very, very low block. Cincy will be content to defend and wait to pounce on a Fire mistake.
Chicago, meanwhile, enters the match as one of the top teams in MLS in chances created, without much to show for it. The Fire have been outscored 7-0 in their last three matches, and have only scored four goals this season.
So, is this the match where the Fire start to turn it around?
“When you create, that is always a good sign,” Head Coach Raphael Wicky said. “We’re trying to work with the guys. We’re trying to give them confidence. We’re trying to put them in front of the goal in training so that they get into these situations. It’s a mix of both. It’s us helping them getting better and them actually on the field just being more calm in front of the goal.
“(Przemyslaw) Frankowski is a player who has a lot of chances and he has had a lot of chances in this season already. I think if he was very clinical this year, he would have already had probably four goals or so, which means he has a chance almost every game. So he just needs to keep working hard and I’m pretty sure that if you keep working hard, at one point the ball goes in.”
Chicago Fire FC vs. FC Cincinnati
Tuesday, August 25, 2020
MLS Regular Season Match #7 | Soldier Field, Chicago
TV: WGN-TV (local)
Streaming: ESPN+ (sign up using our link!)
Radio: 105.1 WOJO-HD2
Live Twitter Updates: @HotTimeOldTown (from Ruben)
Next Up: NYCFC vs. Chicago Fire | Saturday, Aug. 29 | Red Bull Arena, Harrison, NJ | 6:30 p.m. CT | WGN-TV & ESPN+