After an unplanned week off, the Chicago Fire are back at SeatGeek for the last time in their campaign against a team that long-term Fire fans know well as an opponent: The New England Revolution.

The 74th MLS regular season meeting between the two teams – an MLS original against the league’s longest-running expansion side – comes with familiar stakes for longtime fans of the two teams, who met in the playoffs eight times in the 2000s.

While it’s overly-dramatic to say that the fate of the Fire’s season depends on this game, the fates of the two teams are tightly interconnected: They meet each other twice over their final games of the year. The Fire currently sit in 10th place, a point back of the final postseason spot but with two games in hand on the 9th-place New York Red Bulls. The Revolution are in 11th, one spot but eight points behind the Fire, having played one more game than Chicago.

This game is simply a must-win for the Fire. Not mathematically, but because making the postseason means beating teams you should beat – and 11th place Revolution are a team that playoff teams should beat. The Fire should do all they can to avoid a situation where, on Decision Day against the same Revolution squad, they go needing an away victory against a team they struggled against in September.

Fire Head Coach Gregg Berhatler is aware of the stakes, saying “We want to qualify for the playoffs so we know this is a big game. Caleb [Porter, Revs Head Coach] has been there before. He gets his teams ready to play. They have a good attacking group in their team, like to get their fullbacks forward. It will be a good test for us. We just have to be ready to play and focused. But I like what they've been doing. Got good win against Columbus, so a dangerous team.”

Series History

All time: 27W-21D-25LLast match: May 4, 2024: Chicago Fire 0-1 New England Revolution at Soldier Field, Chicago, Ill.

What to Expect

New England Revolution

By the time he was hired in New England, Caleb Porter had established a singular reputation in Major League Soccer: Hire him, win MLS Cup within a couple of seasons, see him leave not long after with a trail of destruction in his wake.

Porter’s first MLS Cup-winning squad was with Portland in 2015, defeating the Columbus Crew, then coached by Berhalter. The following year, the Timbers failed to make the playoffs and in 2017, Porter was shown the door, with a squad that, by multiple reports, was more than happy to see him leave. In 2018, under a new head coach, the Timbers once again made it to the MLS Cup final, this time falling to Atlanta.

When Berhalter was hired as the U.S. Men’s National Team head coach vacating his post in Columbus, Porter was brought in to replace him. The Crew won MLS Cup in 2020, but failed to make the playoffs in any of Porter’s other seasons in Columbus, as reports of a locker room that, once again, were not happy with Porter emerged.

It looks like the steak may be breaking in New England. The Revolution failed to make the playoffs last year, finishing in 14th place, one ahead of the Fire. Despite a dramatically revamped squad this season, with Porter saying that this time, it’s a team built for his style they’re all but guaranteed to do so again this year.

Despite their record, however, the Revs have played decent ball. They’ve done that in no small part due to the strong play of Carles Gil, one of the best attacking midfielders in the league who has once again found his form. Gil leads the team with nine goals and eleven assists, pacing the team with both statistics.

Gil’s role will be challenged, however, with forward Leonardo Campana, second on the team with six goals, called up for World Cup Qualifiers with Ecuador. The Revs summer acquisition in the attack, Israeli striker Dor Turgeman, will also be unavailable, having been called up to Israel for their qualifiers. Also gone? Defender Mamadou Fofana, who has paced the team’s back line with over 2,200 minutes at center back this season.

Surprisingly, however, goalkeeper Matt Turner will be available. Turner, who returned to the Revs this summer, was expected to be called up to Mauricio Pochettino’s USMNT squad but was surprisingly left off.

In his four games with the Revs since returning from Europe, he’s been excellent, saving 0.25 goals per 90 minutes more than expected per game, based on Opta’s PSxG metric. Although the sample size is too small to put him in the ranking, that would put him third in the league this season, per FBRef.

Turner’s play is unsurprising to Berhalter, who knows him well, having given the goalie his first international caps ahead of making Turner the starter for the USA’s 2022 World Cup campaign. “Matt at his best is difficult to beat,” Berhalter said, adding “He comes up with big saves time and time again, covers a lot of the goal, and can intimidate the strikers that shoot against him. I know him really well. Quality goalkeeper. It's really nice to see him getting regular football again. He's definitely helped New England.”

Chicago Fire

Like the Revs, the Fire are also without players due to the international break: Right back Leonardo Barroso has been called up to the Portugal U-21 squad, and the debut of newly-arrived center back Joel Waterman will have to wait, as he is in Europe with the Canadian Men’s National Team. Recent U22 signing Viktor Radojević has also yet to join the team.

Barroso’s absence will once again put Jonathan Dean in the starting XI for the Fire – but Berhalter likes what he’s seen from the player who worked his way to MLS from the lower-division USL Championship, saying “He's a competitor. He showed us from day one in preseason that he was here to compete for minutes. He's done a great job in that. It's not a surprise. He's a guy we would want to keep around because of his veteran presence, but also because of his worth ethic and what he brings each and every day to training. We are confident when he is in the field.”

With Dean at right back and Radojević yet to join the team, that gives the team precious few options off the bench to take the place of Andrew Gutman, who is already nearing his career high for minutes played with seven games left on the schedule. Gutman, however, says he isn’t concerned with the minutes he’s put on his legs, saying “I have a very good recovery program that I worked with the staff and other people that has put me in a position to be where I'm at now. So for me, I feel good. I feel strong. I feel fit… so I don't really look at it as like, oh, I'm about to hit my most minutes played ever. I'm looking at it as more like, I'm healthy and contributing week in and week out”

One key question is how Berhalter will employ midfielder André Franco, the sole summer signing who will be available for this match. He made a 21-minute appearance in the Fire’s last game, but was on a minutes restriction after not having had the benefit of a preseason with FC Porto.

If the Fire’s summer moves are going to make a difference down the stretch, the team needs to find a way to integrate its best midfield group: How can the team integrate Franco and Brian Gutiérrez – who has been playing some of his best ball of the year of late – at the same time?

Will we see the Franco get his first start? Berhalter isn’t giving many hints, saying “For us, it's really looking at how do we get the combinations right and how do we get André fit that he can play 90 minutes, and at the same time maintain continuity and perform well.”

Still – I’m hoping so since a productive Franco alongside the Fire’s option, combined with stability in the back line, could be what the team needs to reach a higher level as they head towards the end of the regular season.

Projected Starting XI

Match Information and How to Watch

Date and Time: Saturday, September 6, 2025, 7:30 PM CTForecast: Lower 60s and cloudy at kickoff.Location: SeatGeek Stadium, Bridgeview, ILTV: Apple TV – MLS Season PassRadio: wlsam.com (English), Que Buena Fire via the Uforia App (Spanish).