The Seattle Sounders will travel to the Windy City to take on the Eastern Conference’s Chicago Fire on Saturday. Here is everything you need to know about the match:
WHEN AND WHERE: Kickoff is at 6 p.m. at Toyota Park in Bridgeview, Ill.
WHERE TO WATCH: The game will be televised on ESPN2 and ESPN Deportes.
WHERE TO LISTEN: The game will air on KIRO Radio 97.3 FM and in Spanish on El Rey 1360AM.
2017 RECORDS AND STANDINGS: Sounders: 2-3-4 (10 points, 8th place West), Fire: 3-3-3 (12 points, 6th place East).
ALL-TIME HISTORY: The Sounders are 7-1-3 all time against the Fire, including a 3-1-2 mark on the road.
RECENT MEETINGS: The Sounders defeated the Fire 1-0 at CenturyLink Field on Sept. 28 last year in the teams’ only meeting. Chad Marshall headed in the game’s lone goal in the 24th minute.
SAME OLD SONG AND DANCE: The Sounders are coming off a 1-0 home loss to Toronto FC in a rematch of the 2016 MLS Cup Final. Despite dominant possession and a strong performance, Seattle failed to win at home for the second straight match, prompting head coach Brian Schmetzer to say “that storyline is growing old very fast.”
MISSING MARSHALL: The veteran center back has missed the last three matches with lower back pain, which has forced Schmetzer to start Gustav Svensson in the middle alongside sophomore Tony Alfaro and the recently returned Roman Torres. The Sounders allowed four goals at home over the last two matches without Marshall patrolling the back line.
EVANS SIGHTING: Brad Evans appeared in the Sounders’ 18-man gameday roster last Saturday for the first time in 2017. He did not enter the match, but his presence was an encouraging sign after missing the first seven weeks of the season with a calf muscle strain.
CHI-TOWN RETURNS: Seattle midfielder Harry Shipp and defender Joevin Jones each plied their trade with the Fire in recent seasons and will return to Toyota Park for the first time as members of the Sounders. Shipp is a Lake Forest, Ill., native and signed a Homegrown contract with Chicago following his career at Notre Dame. He scored 10 goals and recorded 14 assists in two seasons with the Fire before being traded to the Montreal Impact after the 2015 season. Seattle acquired Shipp following MLS Cup last December in exchange for General Allocation Money.
Jones spent the 2015 season with the Fire after signing from Finnish club HJK Helsinki. He spent one season in Chicago, starting 26 games and playing over 2,200 minutes, before the Sounders traded their 2016 first-round MLS SuperDraft pick to the Fire for his rights.
FIRE RETURN HOME: The Fire will host the Sounders fresh off a three-match road trip that saw them earn only point in a 2-2 draw with the LA Galaxy on Saturday, a game in which Chicago led 2-0.
NEW FACES: Chicago boasts a refurbished lineup, one that looks vastly different than the squad that finished with the fewest points in MLS in 2016. It is led by former German international and World Cup-winner Bastian Schweinsteiger, who has two goals and an assist in six games since joining the Fire from Manchester United on March 21.
Chicago also features ex-New York Red Bulls captain Dax McCarty, former LA Galaxy mainstay Juninho and Hungarian forward Nemanja Nikolic, who leads the team with six goals.
