After drawing against Orlando City and beating the New York Red Bulls, the Chicago Fire find themselves in the Eastern Conference playoff race. They are two points off from Orlando City and have a game in hand. Getting a result against Montreal would be huge for the Fire with Montreal only one point ahead of Chicago.
With some players on international duty, Chicago will have to adjust. One big loss for Chicago is the loss of David Accam, who is on international duty for Ghana. Accam has been one of the main playmakers for Chicago as his speed has caused problems for opposing defenses and has set up many scoring chances for his teammates. Look for Kennedy Igboananike to be the main man up top. He will likely have Gilberto as his strike partner with Jason Johnson and Harry Shipp sitting behind them. Losing Matt Polster to international duty for the USA will hurt as the rookie has impressed for Frank Yallop and the Fire.
Montreal sits seventh in the Eastern Conference table and have four games in hand over Orlando City and three over Chicago. Mathematically, Montreal should be the favorites to claim the sixth and final spot for the MLS playoffs. But their form suggests otherwise.
Montreal's last win came over a month ago when they beat New York City FC, 4-3. From then it has been a four-game winless streak which saw the Impact take one point from a possible 12. A good result will not only help Montreal in the standings, it will help their moral going forward.
This will be the first game for interim head coach Mauro Biello as he tries to get Montreal back on track. His team will also be shorthanded as he has players on international duty as well. But he will have the likes of Didier Drogba as a option to play against a shaky Chicago defense. But even with the shaky defense, Chicago has a top goalkeeper in Sean Johnson. Montreal will look to put a few past the US international who will join the national team after the game just in time for the matchup against Brazil.
As you already know, this game has major playoff implications. At this moment, all bottom five teams of the Eastern Conference have a chance at making the playoffs. The points gap between sixth and 10th is only two points. If any team could string a couple of wins together it would completely change the playoff picture, but no team has been consistent enough to do that. Montreal has a little bit of room to lose as they have games in hand over some teams, but for Chicago its all or nothing. A win for either team would put them in sixth place and a draw would help each of them jump up in the standings. A loss would be crushing for either team, thus expecting a good game between both teams.