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Chicago Fire
Major League Soccer
Oct 19, 2024 at 11pm UK
Soldier Field
Nashville

Chicago Fire
0 - 3
Nashville


Navarro (57')
FT(HT: 0-0)
Muyl (54'), Surridge (87'), Shaffelburg (90+1')
Gaines (60'), Shaffelburg (62'), Godoy (69')

Preview: Chicago Fire vs. Nashville SC - prediction, team news, lineups

Sports Mole previews Saturday's Major League Soccer clash between Chicago Fire and Nashville SC, including predictions, team news and possible lineups.

Chicago Fire and Nashville SC will bring their 2024 MLS regular seasons to an end this weekend when they face off at Soldier Field on Saturday night.

The hosts will enter the final matchday bottom of the Eastern Conference standings with 30 points, while they visitors are just two places and three points above them.


Match preview

Chicago fire forward Georgios Koutsias pictured on July 28, 2024© Imago

It has been another forgettable season for the Chicago Fire, who have only managed seven wins in 33 matches, and will end the campaign with at least seven fewer points than they managed last term.

While the playoffs are out of their reach, the one major incentive for the Fire to win this match will be that they will avoid ending the season bottom of the Eastern Conference, and could move up two spots if New England lose away to Inter Miami.

However, Chicago come into this fixture carrying a four-match winless run which includes a draw and three defeats, while they have only managed a single victory in their last 11 matches in all competitions.

Last time out, they suffered an agonising defeat to Charlotte, where they finished the match the better side by far, scoring twice in the final 20 minutes, but still came up on the wrong side of a 4-3 scoreline.

For Chicago, it is now about building for next season, and they have already taken the first steps to doing so, as this match will mark the first in charge for Gregg Berhalter, who was appointed as the side's director of football and head coach during the international break.

 Jacob Shaffelburg in action for Nashville on August 6, 2024© Imago

Meanwhile, the 2024 campaign will go down as the worst in history for Nashville, as they are set to miss out on the post season for the first time since formally joining the MLS back in 2020.

The Coyotes have notched up only eight wins, along with nine draws and 16 losses this season, and another defeat here could lead to them ending bottom in the East, as they are currently level on a -19 goal difference with the Fire.

Avoiding defeat will likely keep them in 13th place, but their away record does not inspire too much confidence, having lost seven of their last eight league matches on the road, with a 2-0 win over Atlanta Untied last month being the only points earned during that period.

Undoubtedly, the biggest issue for the Boys in Gold in 2024 has been their lack of attacking output, having only scored 35 goals to date which is the joint-lowest across the entire MLS this year.

Still, B.J. Callaghan's side cannot be completely written off here, as they did beat this opponent 1-0 last month and have only lost once in their last six encounters against the Fire (W3 D2 L1).

Chicago Fire Major League Soccer form:

Nashville SC Major League Soccer form:


Team News

Fabian Herbers of the Chicago Fire pictured on July 28, 2024© Imago

Chicago will head into the final match of the season without two first-team players in Andrew Gutman and Chase Gasper, who are ruled out due to a hamstring and leg injury respectively.

Brian Gutierrez has been operating in a more advanced role over the latter stages of the season, and he could be joined in attack by Tom Barlow, who came off the bench to score in stoppage time against Charlotte.

Nashville are also down two players for their final trip of the 2024 campaign in Tyler Boyd (knee) and Lukas MacNaughton (ankle), while Julian Gaines is flagged as a doubt owing to a knock.

Sam Surridge scored the winner against the Fire last month and should lead the line in this one, while Hany Mukhtar has had a hand in almost half of Nashville's 35 goals this season, now on eight assists and eight goals after netting the side's only goal against NYCFC last week.


Chicago Fire possible starting lineup:
Brady; Souquet, Omsberg, Czichos; Dean, Acosta, Gimenez, Herbers, Lassiter; Gutierrez, Koutsias

Nashville SC possible starting lineup:
Willis; Moore, Zimmerman, Maher, Lovitz; Godoy, Yazbek; Muyl, Shaffelburg; Mukhtar; Surridge


SM words green background

We say: Chicago Fire 2-1 Nashville SC

While Nashville only need a draw to guarantee they will not end bottom of the Eastern Conference this season, Chicago have avoided defeat in their last two home games, including a 2-1 win over the Red Bulls, and we feel the hosts may just be able to manage one more big performance before the rebuild for next term begins.


For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.




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Written by
Devesh Jaganath

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Game History

How you voted: Chicago Fire vs Nashville

Chicago Fire
75.0%
Draw
16.7%
Nashville SC
8.3%
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Eastern Conference

TeamPWDLFAGDPTS
1FC CincinnatiCincinnati107121512322
2Columbus Crew10631148621
3Philadelphia UnionPhiladelphia106131991019
4Charlotte FCCharlotte FC10613168819
5Inter MiamiInter Miami95311610618
6Nashville SCNashville105141913616
7Orlando City104421812616
8New York Red BullsNY Red Bulls10433119215
9New York City FCNY City104241213-114
10New England RevolutionNew England941477013
11Chicago Fire103341822-412
12Atlanta UnitedAtlanta102351119-89
13DC United102351122-119
14Toronto10145814-67
15CF MontrealMontreal10037414-103

Western Conference

TeamPWDLFAGDPTS
1Vancouver WhitecapsVancouver107212071323
2Minnesota UnitedMinnesota Utd104421210216
3Colorado RapidsColorado104421414016
4Austin FCAustin10514710-316
5Portland TimbersPortland94321613315
6Dallas104331414015
7Los Angeles FCLos Angeles104241314-114
8Seattle SoundersSeattle103431312113
9Real Salt LakeSalt Lake104061115-412
10San Jose EarthquakesEarthquakes103162019110
11St Louis City1024456-110
12Houston DynamoHouston102441014-410
13Sporting Kansas CityKansas102171621-57
14Los Angeles GalaxyLA Galaxy9036616-103
15San Diego FC00000000


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