A three-match homestand comes to a conclusion on Saturday night as the Chicago Fire host Western Conference foes the Seattle Sounders at Soldier Field for a 7 p.m. CT kickoff.
The Fire are coming off of a 2-0 win against Toronto FC on Wednesday night, and will look to make it two-in-a-row at home when the opening whistle blows this evening. It will be a special matchup for Head Coach Ezra Hendrickson, who squares off against his former boss, Sounders coach Brian Schmetzer. Schmetzer and the Sounders became the first-ever MLS team to win the Concacaf Champions League this spring, and enter tonight's match in eighth place in the West with 26 points taken from 19 matches played.
For those not at Soldier Field tonight, coverage of the match is available on WGN, CF97 Live, Univision Radio, and MLS LIVE's out-of-market package on ESPN+.
Ahead of kickoff, here's everything you need to know about tonight's just-announced Fire starting XI and bench.
- Two changes have been made to Wednesday's victorious starting XI against Toronto.
- Gastón Giménez returns to the midfield alongside Federico Navarro after serving a one-match suspension midweek for yellow card accumulation. He replaces Mauricio Pineda tonight, who played his first 90-minute performance since May 18 on Wednesday. Pineda only recently returned to the squad after recovering from an injury suffered on May 22, before entering health and safety protocols shortly afterward.
- In addition, Kacper Przybyłko is back in the starting XI tonight in place of the injured Jhon Durán.
- After coming in at No. 3 in the SportsCenter Top 10 with an audacious backheel assist Wednesday night, 19-year-old Brian Gutiérrez starts again in midfield alongside Xherdan Shaqiri and Schaumburg native Chris Mueller.
- Closing in on his 200th MLS regular season appearance, defender Jonathan Bornstein starts at fullback tonight opposite Boris Sekulić.
- In between those two are captain Rafael Czichos and Carlos Terán in central defense.
- Goalkeeper Gabriel Slonina makes his 20th start of the season after recording his eighth shutout of 2022 on Wednesday night against Toronto. Slonina is level with Philadelphia's Andre Blake for the second-most clean sheets in the league, only one behind NYCFC's Sean Johnson at nine.
- Available to Hendrickson as substitutions tonight are goalkeeper Spencer Richey, defender Jhon Espinoza, defender Miguel Navarro, defender Andre Reynolds II, defender/midfielder Mauricio Pineda, midfielder Jairo Torres, forward Fabian Herbers, forward Stanislav Ivanov, and forward Chinonso Offor.
- Midfielder Javier Casas (health & safety protocols), midfielder Alex Monis (health & safety protocols), defender Wyatt Omsberg (left foot), and forward Jhon Duran (left ankle) are unavailable for selection tonight.
Get a look at the Seattle starting lineup below as it becomes available:
