After the Fire’s first week without a match this season, the team returns with two home games in quick succession. The team returns to action Wednesday against the Philadelphia Union, currently atop MLS’s Eastern Conference and riding a 12-game undefeated streak across all competitions.

The game begins the second half of the season for the Fire, and eighth home game overall. In the first half of the season, a storyline for the Fire was the team’s wins on the road – including over conference-topping Vancouver, in one of just two losses in MLS for the Canadian team to date – and inability to win at home, with just one victory in their first seven games at Soldier Field. Given that MLS holds one of the strongest homefield advantages in both North American pro sports and in pro soccer, it’s become a talking point about the team.

“Something I'm looking into, obviously frustrated with the home results,” Fire Head Coach Gregg Berhalter said about the team’s form. But, “I’m not really sure the results tell the whole story, because the xG is there, you know,” referring to expected goals, a model for how likely a team’s scoring chances will be converted into goals.

“I think by xG goal differential, we would be four in the League at home. So, some of it is hopefully time, right, and things will regress back to how they should be and we'll start getting those wins.”

Starting that trend against the Philadelphia Union would be a statement, coming off the heels of the team’s second loss to Nashville, another top team in the conference, this season. The loss, coming off of what Berhalter described as “bad moments” and “collective moments about not competing the way we should be” was, in some ways, a measuring stick for the Fire: Despite the progress the team made in the their first half of the season, they still remain significantly behind the league’s elite, which Nashville – who had made the playoffs every season since joining the league before last year – is in, while the Fire are still looking for ways to punch up.

If the Fire can do that against one of the league’s top teams, it’ll be a statement – both internally and externally – about the progress the group has made this season.

Series History

All time: 11W-9D-14LLast match: July 3, 2024: Chicago Fire 4-3 Philadelphia Union at Soldier Field, Chicago, Ill.

What to Expect

Philadelphia Union

One reason for optimism on Gregg Berhalter’s part: The Union will be without a number of key players.

Forward Tai Baribo, MLS’s leading scorer so far this season, is almost certainly out for the match due to injury. As is Mikael Uhre, the team’s second-best player in the position.

Andre Blake, who is currently with the Jamaican national team, is slated to play a Gold Cup match for his country the day before. While Jamaica has a tough path to advance in the competition, playing back-to-back matches 24 hours apart is unlikely for the 34-year-old goalkeeper.

Quinn Sullivan, the homegrown who has cemented his role at the top of the team’s depth chart at the right attacking midfield position, remains with the U.S. Men’s National Team

Philadelphia’s preferred defensive midfielder, Danley Jean Jacques, is available, having been eliminated with the Haitian national team’s loss to the United States on Sunday, but does have a lot of minutes on his legs over the past week.

Don’t expect the Fire to cry about Philadelphia’s absences, however: “You know, for us that's been the story of the year, right, missing players,” Berhalter said ahead of the game. “I don't feel bad for them at all. That's how it goes. We're still missing players, as well. It is what it is. For us, I still think the identity is going to be similar, and we have to play our game, and we have to try to win the game.”

The style that Philadelphia has played this year under Head Coach Bradley Carnell has been a reversion to the team’s fast-paced, quick counter attacking style, not dissimilar to the Red Bulls system. The Union will quickly try winning the ball by smothering the Fire’s attack.

When they do win the ball, they’ll play quickly, often up the wide areas of the pitch – quick, long-distance line-breaking passes and try to get a look on net. The protagonist for much of Philadelphia’s fast-paced attack this year has been left back Kai Wagner, who leads the team in assists. Wagner will be in the lineup for Philadelphia, probably the most notable player who will remain in the XI for the team.

Still, the Union’s system is drilled into players from early on in their academy careers and with players well-drilled in a consistent system, “next man up” has been more of a reality than a mere catch phrase for Philadelphia.

Chicago Fire

Wagner is one of a lot of familiar faces for Fire center-back Jack Elliott, who started his pro career with the Philadelphia Union in 2017. In that time, the Union became one of the top teams in the league, winning the Supporters Shield for the league’s best record in 2020 and making it as far as the MLS Cup Final in 2022.

Elliott sees a lot of similar things to what he saw in Philadelphia inside the Fire locker room. “I think the quality of the team is there,” the Fire captain told reporters on Monday. “I think we have a lot of good footballers and have the chance to win every game, really, which is crucial. Yeah, being in the position to be able to win games is a first step. And I just think going forward, obviously, just need to be a bit more clinical and clean a few things up, and then, you know, I think we'll be making the playoffs and become contenders.”

Ruthless and intensity, particularly in the back line, will be critical in stopping the Union, short-handed as they’ll likely be. As will finding stability in the back line, something that may be improved as Sam Rogers is likely to be back in the lineup.

It’ll come to Jonathan Dean – who’s quietly had some of his best-ever performances over the past few weeks – work with the center-back pairing to shut down Kai Wagner, while Andrew Gutman will also have to be sharp on both sides of the ball.  With Chris Brady remaining with the USMNT, the duties in net will fall to Jeff Gal.

Elliott, like Andrew Gutman ahead of the Fire’s last game, expressed confidence in the veteran goalkeeper, saying “I think he's done a great job in assimilating into what we want to do. Trying to build up for the back and on the other side has been confident and made some good saves.”

With the Fire’s preferred attacking options all available, expect to see Philip Zinckernagel reunited with Jonathan Bamba and Hugo Cuypers. That will give the Fire’s scoring leader a chance to move closer to the absent Baribo atop the league’s Golden Boot race.

Projected Starting XI

Match Information and How to Watch

Date and Time: Wednesday, June 25, 2025, 7:30 PM CTForecast: Rain early, mostly clearing before kickoff with temperatures around 70º at kickoffLocation: Soldier Field, Chicago, Ill. TV: Apple TV – MLS Season Pass