Into the Belly of the East: Chicago Fire vs. Columbus Crew Match 3

The Fire face their second team from Ohio in as many weeks on Saturday, this time traveling to Columbus to face the Crew. The Fire’s run through the gauntlet of the Eastern Conference runs through Lower.com field as the team searches for its first victory of the season – something that will not come easily against the reigning MLS Cup winner.

Series History

All time: 29W-25D-26LLast Match: September 20, 2023: Columbus 3-0 Fire at Lower.com Field, Columbus, Oh.

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Columbus

The Crew faced the Houston Dynamo in CONCACAF Champions Cup play on Wednesday, winning the first leg 1–0 off a late goal deep into second half stoppage time, earning a victory away at Houston. In league play, they played Minnesota to a one-all draw last Saturday, and opened their season with a 1-0 victory at home over Atlanta United.

Fire

The Fire’s Return to Red at Soldier Field last Saturday was marred by a 2-1 loss against FC Cincinnati. The team held its own defensively but failed to get a single shot on target in the run of play.

The Storyline

The Columbus Crew are one of the Fire’s oldest and longest-running rivals. When the Fire entered the league in 1998, they joined Columbus and Kansas City as the only Midwestern teams, though it was the Crew, rather than the team from Kansas, that rapidly became one of the Fire’s fiercest rivals.

This is the 80th meeting between the two teams, and although the rivalry may not be as intense as it once was, a healthy contingent of Fire supporters will be traveling to central Ohio to cheer on the team as they seek their first victory over the Crew since August 15, 2021.

It won’t come easily: Wilfred Nancy’s MLS Cup-winning squad is almost entirely intact as he enters his sophomore season as head coach of the Crew.

After starting their season away against the Philadelphia Union, who have the most regular season points and fewest home defeats of any team in the league over the past four seasons, the Fire hosted Supporter’s Shield-winning FC Cincinnati and now travel to the MLS Cup champions. That is, simply, running the gauntlet of a stacked Eastern Conference.

Well: Every team in the East has to face all of its conference opponents twice, so there’s some argument to be made for getting them out of the way early, before teams are fully in form and when inclement weather has a greater chance of playing a spoiler. (The forecast in Columbus is for rain to start Friday afternoon, and continue through the match on Saturday, though temperatures will be mild.)

Scheduling also helps – to date, all the teams that the Fire have faced have been playing midweek matches in continental competition; in this case, the Crew had to travel to Houston for a game on Wednesday, fly home, and prepare to host the Fire on Saturday. Nancy was able to rotate his squad, but the close score meant that their best XI did play serious minutes.

Will that be enough to propel the Fire over an old foe for their first victory of the season?

Availability Report

Columbus Crew

All players available

Chicago Fire

Out: Victor Bezerra, Javier Casas Jr., Bryan Dowd, Andrew Gutman

Fire Keys to Victory

• Pucks on net: The Fire had a plethora of attacking talent on the pitch against Cincinnati, and yet the only shot on frame came from the penalty spot. That just isn’t good enough, nor are the five shots the Fire attempted (FC Cincinnati had 14).
• Stay sharp: No team in MLS likes possession as much as Wilfred Nancy’s Crew, who had 57.1% possession in 2023. They’re committed to holding onto the ball, even if it means taking risks with the ball. There’s ways to defeat the Crew with either a high press or a low block, but either way – the Crew are talented enough to exploit gaps, and are more than willing to build out of the back, hoping to tempt teams into creating spaces. So whatever defense the Fire run, everyone needs to be bought in and stay tuned in for the full 90 minutes.
• Get Cuypers involved: Hugo Cuypers had a crucial touch in the box last week – a goal line clearance that almost certainly kept the ball out of Chris Brady’s net. Great, but he was hired for his presence in the other box. The Crew’s model is that they’re fine making defensive mistakes as long as they take care of business at the other end. Cuypers needs to be put in positions to make them pay for those mistakes and shift that calculus.

Panel Predictions

Alex Calabrese

Prediction: Columbus X-X Fire

Jiggly Carollo

"How is only one left? The pack come in six."

If you've read my column this week, you know my concerns with our attack. And you should have a vague idea of how highly I view Columbus' attack. Sure, they're not exactly on a tear just yet, but by every metric they seem to just be waiting for the right moment for an explosion. And unfortunately, it's down to a Fire team that's not gonna keep with the scoring.

Prediction: Columbus 3-1 Fire

Tim Hotze

The Crew have just looked too dangerous and the Fire's squad is still integrating, and will likely once again have several players playing out of position. This is a tough, tough game for the Fire.

Prediction: Columbus 3-0 Fire

Matt Shabelman

Prediction: Columbus 1-2 Fire

Match Information and How to Watch

Date and Time: Saturday, March 9, 2024, 6:30PM CTLocation: Lower.com Field, Columbus, Oh.Forecast: 48’ expected at kick off, with 75% humidity, winds WNW at 15 mph and 98% cloud cover and a 475 chance of precipitation TV: Apple TV - Free