One of Major League Soccer’s most classic rivalries will be renewed on Saturday night as the Chicago Fire hosts the Columbus Crew at Soldier Field.
Both sides have struggled this season, with some highs and a few more lows.
Chicago’s road woes continued last weekend as they lost to fellow bottom-dwellers the San Jose Earthquakes. Columbus didn’t win either, but at least they got a draw at home to the Philadelphia Union.
Neither are in the playoff picture as things stand, so the two teams will be relatively desperate to secure a result this time out, especially the home side. With that in mind, and the history between the two, this could be a fun one.
Team news
Chicago had been going through a bit of an injury crisis, but things have drastically improved in that department since their only two absentees for this game will be Kendall Burks and Wyatt Omsberg.
It’s a similar story for Columbus, as the only players who might miss out are Artur and Marlon Hairston, who are both listed as questionable.
Predicted lineups
Chicago Fire: Slonina, Sekulić, Pineda, Czichos, M. Navarro, F. Navarro, Giménez, Torres, Shaqiri, Mueller, Durán
Columbus Crew: Room, Santos, Williams, Mensah, Degenek, Moreira, Zawadzki, Nagbe, Morris, Zelarayan, Russell-Rowe
Ones to watch
Jairo Torres
It’s finally time to see what Jairo Torres can do.
So far, his entire tenure with Chicago has been a waiting game. First, he was signed well before he was able to join. The news of his acquisition was announced in mid-February, and his arrival was set for the start of May.
That meant the Fire had to begin the campaign without him, and when they struggled, fans quickly started looking towards Torres’ upcoming debut. When that time finally came the excitement was through the roof, but his first appearance had to be delayed after he came to the club with an injury.
He eventually recovered from that, and he slowly worked his way into the starting lineup. The Mexican was in the first XI for one game, and then came an international break. In a remarkable turn of events, he got hurt once again during the pause, so he was forced to miss another three games. He did return last weekend off the bench, playing a chunk of minutes at the end of the contest.
Torres has to start now, though. He’s had time to recover, so he should be back to full fitness, if not extremely close. The Fire also certainly need him. They’ve been woeful going forward all year, and his talent could finally help them turn a corner, especially with the likes of Chris Mueller and Xherdan Shaqiri alongside him.
It’s not been his fault, of course, but so far the winger has been a bit of a flop. Chicago just hasn’t gotten anything from him in the two months he’s been in the Windy City, and things have to change soon if the team wants any chance of saving this season.
However, if Torres can manage to stay healthy, then the Fire might just have a really dangerous attack on their hands. For their sake, hopefully that all starts here.
Cucho Hernández
Major League Soccer’s next star might just be making his debut in this contest.
That man is Cucho Hernández, who was recently bought by Columbus for a club record fee of $10 million from former Premier League side Watford. That’s the 7th highest transfer fee in MLS history, and there’s a lot of fanfare around his signing as a result.
The Colombian joined Watford back in 2017 as a highly touted youngster. The hype only continued to grow when he went out on loan and scored 16 goals for SD Huesca in the Spanish second division, dishing out six assists as well. That’s an impressive return for anyone, but the fact that he was only 18 years old at the time made the campaign that much more remarkable.
His performances helped get Huesca promoted to La Liga, and he ended up staying there another year. However, Hernández has failed to hit the heights of that 2017-18 season ever since, not scoring more than five goals in a single league campaign. All those years have been in a country’s top-flight, to be fair, but it's still quite the drop off.
He became available following Watford’s relegation at the end of this season, and the Crew swooped in to get the deal done. Now, even though the striker’s numbers as of late haven’t been the best, there’s still a quality player there.
He’s pacey, and he knows how to use his speed to his advantage. He’s an excellent striker of the ball as well, so when he gets into a good position, he’ll likely be able to finish the move off. Just look at the goals he scored this past season versus Aston Villa and Arsenal.
If all goes well, Hernández could be one of the very best players in the entire league. Head Coach Caleb Porter confirmed to the media today that Hernandez will play between 20-30 minutes in the match.
Last time out
These two sides last faced off on the final week of the 2021 season.
Even though neither team had much to play for in terms of the final standings, the game was still an important one since it was the last one played at the Historic Crew Stadium, formerly known as Mapfre Stadium and the Columbus Crew Stadium.
That proved to be more than enough motivation for Columbus, who ended up winning with ease. The opener came after about 30 minutes, as Lucas Zelarayán received a pass from Derrick Etienne Jr in the area before dancing past a defender and rifling a shot into the back of the net from close range.
The contest was put to bed at the hour mark thanks to Miguel Berry. Breaking free on the counter, his initial effort was saved by goalkeeper Gabriel Slonina, and then it looked like his rebound attempt was cleared off the line by a defender. However, a VAR review would lead to the referee realizing the ball had actually crossed the line, so the goal was ultimately given.
That was the end of the scoring, which meant that the Crew were able to send off their old stadium with one final victory.
How to watch
The match kicks off at 7:00 p.m. CDT, and it will air live on WGN TV and chicagofirefc.com for fans in Chicago and Bally Sports Ohio for fans in Columbus. Anyone else in the United States will be able to watch the action unfold on ESPN+.