Chicago makes the short trip to Ohio to face its oldest rival, the Columbus Crew, at Lower.com Field on Saturday night. Kickoff is slated for 6:30 p.m. CT on MLS Season Pass. The match will also be transmitted locally in Chicago via wlsam.com in English and WRTO 1200 AM in Spanish.
The Fire holds a 27-25-23 all-time record against the MLS Cup defending champions heading into the 76th encounter between the two clubs. With a 49-43-30 all-time record, Head Coach Frank Klopas is looking to become the third coach in Fire history to register 50 wins, alongside Bob Bradley (82) and Dave Sarachan (55).
Columbus is coming off a 1-0 win against the Houston Dynamo in the Concacaf Champions Cup on Wednesday, March 6. A goal in the sixth minute of stoppage time from Alexandru Matan propelled the Crew to victory in the first leg of the Round of 16 series.
- Defenders Chase Gasper and Tobias Salquist earn their first starts in a Fire jersey. Salquist will make his MLS debut, replacing defender/midfielder Mauricio Pineda in the backline. Gasper will play his second match for Chicago after entering in the second minute of the game against Philadelphia for an injured Andrew Gutman.
- Rafael Czichos and Allan Arigoni start their third match of the season, and their third match together in 2024.
- With today’s start, midfielder Fabian Herbers makes his 125th appearance with the Fire, becoming the 15th player in Club history to reach the mark.
- Midfielder Kellyn Acosta earns his second-consecutive start for Chicago, playing in his 255th career Major League Soccer match.
- Captain Xherdan Shaqiri and midfielders Brian Gutiérrez and Maren Haile-Selassie start their third match together of the 2024 MLS regular season. Shaqiri’s goal last week against FC Cincinnati was the Fire’s first goal in a red kit since Fabian Herbers scored in a 2-2 draw against Toronto FC at SeatGeek Stadium on Sept. 29, 2019.
- Forward Hugo Cuypers starts his third match up top for Chicago.
- Goalkeeper Chris Brady mans the net for the third-straight match of 2024 and the 34rd time in his career.
- Forward Victor Bezera (upper leg) and defender Andrew Gutman (upper leg) will not be available for tonight’s match.
- Available off the bench for Coach Klopas is goalkeeper Spencer Richey, defenders Jonathan Dean and Carlos Terán, defender/midfielder Mauricio Pineda, midfielders Gastón Giménez, Chris Mueller and Federico Navarro, and forwards Tom Barlow and Georgios Koutsias.
