It's a late kickoff in Canada tonight, as Chicago Fire FC prepares to take on the Vancouver Whitecaps at BC Place at 9 p.m. CT.
With back-to-back-wins behind them entering the match, Head Coach Ezra Hendrickson and his side will look to add a third and continue to climb their way up the Eastern Conference standings. The Fire were victorious over Vancouver's Cascadia rivals the Seattle Sounders last weekend with a 1-0 win at Soldier Field. The Whitecaps enter the match in 10th place in the Western Conference, winless in three with a pair of draws in their last two outings.
Don't miss tonight's broadcast on WGN, CF97 Live, Univision Radio, and MLS LIVE's out-of-market package on ESPN+, which is set to feature live look-ins from tonight's official watch party at A.J. Hudson's with Fire play-by-play commentator Tyler Terens.
With the opening whistle an hour away, here's how the Fire will lineup to start this evening:
- Three changes have been made to the lineup that took three points from the Sounders last Saturday.
- Forward Jhon Durán returns to the starting XI tonight after missing last weekend's match with an ankle injury. In the match prior, Durán become the second-youngest Fire player to record a brace and led the team to a 1-0 win over Toronto FC. He'll replace Kacper Przybyłko tonight, who did not travel with the team to Vancouver due to an excused absence. Przybyłko’s wife is expected to give birth to their second child in the near future.
- Also back in the starting XI tonight are Miguel Navarro and Mauricio Pineda, who will spell Jonathan Bornstein and Gastón Giménez, respectively. Giménez picked up a right thigh injury in last weekend's win against the Sounders, meaning Pineda will slot in next to Federico Navarro in the holding midfield position, while Navarro will lineup opposite Boris Sekulić at full back.
- After scoring the deciding goal against the Sounders and delivering an MLS Team of the Week-worthy performance, captain Rafael Czichos takes his usual place in central defense, alongside Carlos Terán.
- In the attack, the trio of Chris Mueller, Xherdan Shaqiri, and Brian Gutiérrez will look to play provide to Durán up top. Gutiérrez and Durán last started together in the team's win against Toronto on July 13, and combined for one of the season's most memorable goals so far.
- In net, 18-year-old goalkeeper Gabriel Slonina will be looking to keep his third-straight clean sheet tonight. Slonina has nine shutouts to his name in 2022, just one behind league leader Sean Johnson of New York City FC.
- Available to Hendrickson as substitutions tonight are goalkeeper Spencer Richey, defender Jonathan Bornstein, defender Andre Reynolds II, midfielder Javier Casas Jr., midfielder Jairo Torres, forward Victor Bezerra, forward Fabian Herbers, forward Chinonso Offor, and forward Missael Rodríguez..
- Defender Jhon Espinoza (right knee), midfielder Gastón Giménez (right thigh), defender Wyatt Omsberg (left foot), forward Kacper Przybylko (excused absence), and forward Stanislav Ivanov (right thigh) are unavailable for selection tonight.
Get a look at the Vancouver starting lineup below as it becomes available:
