Chicago Fire FC resumes its 2022 MLS regular season campaign on Saturday afternoon with a nationally-televised trip to the Twin Cities to take on Minnesota United FC.
Head Coach Ezra Hendrickson and the Fire enter the match with last weekend's home draw against the LA Galaxy and Tuesday night's penalty shootout defeat in the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup in tow, and will look to get back on track with a second road win of the young season. Minnesota United, who were also active in the Open Cup midweek, sit in seventh place in the Western Conference with 11 points (3-2-2) through seven matches played.
Find coverage of today's match on ESPN when the opening whistle blows at 4 p.m. CT. Ahead of kickoff, get the details on the Fire's starting XI and bench in the lineup notes below:
- Two welcome returns headline today's opening XI: Midfielder Xherdan Shaqiri is back in the starting squad after missing the Fire's previous two regular season matches (and Tuesday's Open Cup match) with a calf injury. Brian Gutiérrez is also cleared to return to regular season action after serving a one-game suspension for a red card received against Orlando City on April 9. The duo will parter with Stanislav Ivanov in midfield this afternoon.
- After picking up his fifth clean sheet of the season in the Fire's 0-0 draw with the Galaxy last weekend, goalkeeper Gabriel Slonina will look to make it six in Minnesota today. With another shutout, Slonina would join Eloy Room (2020), Donovan Ricketts (2010) and Tony Meola (2000) as the only players with six clean sheets in their team’s first eight games of a season.
- Ahead of Slonina, captain Rafael Czichos will lead the back line in central defense. Czichos scored a pair of penalty kick goals in Tuesday's Open Cup match, and will slot in alongside Wyatt Omsberg, Miguel Navarro, and Boris Sekulić today.
- Gastón Giménez and Federico Navarro will serve as today's holding midfield tandem. Giménez is coming off his his 50th appearance for the Club since joining the team in 2020, which he earned in last Saturday's match against the Galaxy.
- Up top, Kacper Przybyłko will lead the attacking line and look to add to his two goals scored so far this season.
- Available to Hendrickson as substitutions today are goalkeeper Spencer Richey, defender Kendall Burks, defender Carlos Terán, defender Andre Reynolds II, defender Jonathan Bornstein, defender/midfielder Mauricio Pineda, forward Victor Bezerra, forward Jhon Durán, and forward Chinonso Offor.
- Forward Fabian Herbers (right hip) is unavailable for selection today due to injury.
Get a look at Minnesota's starting lineup below as it becomes available:
