Lineup Notes | Chicago Fire FC at Montreal Impact

The Chicago Fire are back in action on Saturday night with a trip to New Jersey to take on the Montreal Impact.

Coming out of back-to-back wins last week against the Houston Dynamo and Atlanta United at home, head coach Raphael Wicky's side will look to ride their wave of momentum into the weekend's Eastern Conference road trip. Both the Fire (4-7-3, 15 pts.) and the Impact (5-8-1, 16 pts.) sit above the playoff line entering the match, but will covet an additional three points to improve their standing.

With kickoff from Red Bull Arena an hour away on WGN and ESPN+, take a look at how Wicky will deploy his side against Thierry Henry's Impact this evening:

• The Fire will begin with one change from the lineup that earned back-to-back victories against Houston and Atlanta last week: defender Miguel Navarro returns to the starting XI in place of Jonathan Bornstein.
• Forward Robert Berićhas an opportunity to match the Fire's record of consecutive games with a goal should he score for the fifth-straight match as part of Saturday's starting lineup.
• After a Heineken Man of the Match performance last Sunday against Atlanta, midfielder Fabian Herbers will look to take his scoring form on the road. Herbers has goals in two straight games, and four total on the season so far.
• Fresh off of having his 2021 contract option exercised, captain Francisco Calvo takes up his usual place in the center of the Fire backline. Calvo, Mauricio Pineda, and Álvaro Medránremain the only Fire players to start every Fire match this season with the respective appearances in the opening XI tonight.
• Joining Herbers and Medrán in midfield is Gastón Giménez, who makes his 13th start for the Fire. Following Saturday's match, Giménez and Navarro will join up with Paraguay and Venezuela, respectively, for a pair of 2020 CONMEBOL World Cup Qualifying matches, as announced on Friday.
• Occupying the Fire's wide channels tonight will be Djordje Mihailović and Ignacio Aliseda. Mihailović picked up his third assist of the season on Sunday night with his feed to Robert Berić on the Fire's opening goal against Atlanta.
• Defender Boris Sekulićmakes his 13th start for the Fire lined up opposite Navarro this evening.
• Riding back-to-back clean sheets, goalkeeper Bobby Shuttleworth earns his 194th career regular season appearance in MLS tonight.
• Having missed all of the MLS is Back Tournament and the league's return to regular season play while dealing with an injury, defender Johan Kappelhofreturns to the matchday roster and is available off the bench tonight. Should he play, it would be his first appearance since the Fire's 1-1 draw at New England on March 7.
• Also available to Wicky as substitutions tonight are forward CJ Sapong, midfielders Micheal Azira, Brandt Bronico, and Elliot Collier, defenders Jonathan Bornstein, Wyatt Omsberg, andAndre Reynolds IIand goalkeeperConnor Sparrow.
• GoalkeeperKenneth Kronholm, defenderJeremiah Gutjahr, and midfieldersLuka StojanovićandPrzemysław Frankowski are not medically cleared for tonight's match.

Get a look at both team's starting lineups as they're available in the graphics below: