Five things you should know about Saturday's home opener vs. New England

The Fire return to Toyota Park for the club's 16th home opener Saturday night vs. New England (6:30pm CT on NBC Sports Network). Here are five things you should know about tonight's match...

1) Injury Update… We’ll get the bad news out of the way first… Fire fans were somewhat surprised last week to see both Arne Friedrich and Logan Pause not on the team sheet in the side’s 4-0 loss to the Galaxy because of injury.

Asked about their status this week, Fire head coach Frank Klopas said they were being evaluated day-to-day but if they didn’t train by Thursday, it would be unlikely for either to play today vs. New England.

Neither player trained this week.

TACTICAL: New England Revolution

2) Home Openers… It’s been a long week after that 4-0 loss to the Galaxy but history is on the Fire’s side… The team is 9-3-3 all-time in home opening matches and 2-0-3 in them when they face New England…

3) A Real Rivalry… A lot has been written this week about the rivalry between the Fire and Revolution that dates back to the numerous playoff meetings that occurred between the two sides from 2003-2009.

Another interesting stat: With 62 games between them, the Fire have played the Revolution in more competitive matches than any other club: 43 regular season, 15 playoff, 2 U.S. Open Cup and 2 SuperLiga games…

4) Patrick Nyarko 150… Now into his sixth season in Chicago, Fire winger Patrick Nyarko is set to make his 150^th competitive appearance for the Fire in Saturday’s home opener.

Patrick’s Appearances Breakdown: 131 MLS, 5 MLS playoff, 8 U.S. Open Cup, 5 SuperLiga.

Q&A: Patrick Nyarko on leadership

5) Three goals away… The Fire sit just three goals away from the club’s 700^th all-time regular season goal. Could the milestone happen tonight? A look at the other Fire centurion goal scorers…