It’s Time: Chicago Fire vs Charlotte Match 13 Preview

Following a dispiriting loss to St. Louis in the team’s first-ever game at Citypark, they return to Soldier Field in search of their first goal – and win – in front of home fans since April 6th.

The match is the first of two at Soldier Field in an absolutely critical week for the team’s season.

Series History

All time: 1W-0D-3LLast Match: October 7, 2023: Chicago Fire 0-2 Charlotte at Soldier Field, Chicago, Ill.

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Charlotte

Charlotte won their last two matches, both at home, over Nashville and Portland. In their last match of April, they traveled to New York City and lost 2-1. It’s been part of a pattern for Charlotte: They have just one win and one draw at home alongside five wins, but they’ve had four losses and a draw on their road, with their sole point away from home coming back on March 2nd in a 1-1 draw with the Vancouver Whitecaps.

Fire

The Fire lost in their first-ever match in St. Louis. They did score a goal, courtesy of Hugo Cuypers, ending the team’s goalless drought just three minutes before it hit the seven hour mark, but it came when the team was already down a goal, meaning the last time the team had a lead was during their 2-1 win over Houston on April 6th.

The Storyline

Technically, this match is a part of MLS Rivalry Week – other matches being played Wednesday include D.C. United vs. the New York Red Bulls (the Atlantic Cup), and intra-state matchups in both Florida and Texas.

Charlotte, though, isn’t really a rival of the Fire’s (the Fire aren’t alone - many of the matchups during rivalry week  aren’t against true rivals), but there’s a certain rivalry-like spirit between the two clubs: The Fire’s loss to Charlotte in Soldier Field last October significantly dimmed the team’s postseason prospects which, going into the match, were very bright after their 4-1 win over Inter Miami three days prior.

Charlotte followed their victory over the Fire with a draw over Miami in Ft. Lauderdale and a victory at home on Decision Day, making good on what had been a long-shot bid for the postseason before the team’s match with the Fire.

Since coming into the league, many commentators have talked about the issues with Charlotte’s roster build – their original head coach famously said that without more signings (which did not come), “we’re screwed”  – and yet the team has finished above the Fire in the table in both of their first two seasons in the league.

So far, the fans have stuck with the team, and the Fire have been averaging 18,527 fans through their first six home matches – on pace to break the team’s single-season attendance record, but the team hasn’t been able to reward the fans results recently, failing to score a goal in its previous three-game homestand.

The support – and results – haven’t been lost on team captain Xherdan Shaqiri, who said that “at home, they [the fans] are showing up and coming, so we have to start delivering… Hopefully on Wednesday, people will be coming as we try to turn this around and try to be again on a win streak.”

If the Fire are going to turn things around, the time to start really is now – they’re facing a team that has yet to win a road game, and the matches this week mark the team’s seventh and eighth home games of the season, meaning the team will have played just under half of their home games in the MLS regular season before this week is out.

St. Louis Players to Watch

https://twitter.com/MLS/status/1789459784451674450

Patrick Agyemang: The 23-year-old forward went 12th overall in the MLS SuperDraft following his time with the Rhode Island Rams, and has become the team’s preferred option at striker, beating out Designated Player forward Enzo Copetti. He’s in the top 10% of all forwards in carries and shots in the box, and has four goal contributions in just 604 minutes so far this season.

Kerwin Vargas: The U-22 initiative forward hsa been in favor under new Head Coach Dean Smith this season. Particularly with Liel Abada out with an injury, Vargas is being asked to shoulder a significant chunk of the team’s offensive load. With two goals so far this season, he hasn’t exactly been breaking scoring records, but he’s still been a useful player for Charlotte and can be a difference maker. Vargas scored the first postseason goal in Charlotte team history last year, assisted by former Fire fan favorite Brandt Bronico.

Fire Keys to Victory

• Score a goal, early: This is obvious, but you need to score goals to win, and the Fire need to win games. More importantly – score a goal early.  That forces the other team to change their tactics and chase the game. Remember the game against Houston back in early April? Remember how fun that was? Part of that was because Xherdan Shaqiri opened the scoring with an early goal from the spot, and the Fire could play the game on their terms, with a lead.

• Shoot: This is coming from last year’s deck, but Charlotte have only given up 12 goals this season – in no small part because the team’s faced relatively few shots. The Fire actually did a decent job shooting in St. Louis – though they were too often limited to do it from desperation, low-percentage places, partly because they were down a goal almost from kickoff (see above). St. Louis have the best (certainly the most expensive) goalkeeper in the league; Charlotte doesn’t. Shoot, and you may just find joy.

Panel Predictions

Alex Calabrese

Surely the Fire have to win eventually... right? Pressure, at least from the outside, is undoubtedly ramping up on Frank Klopas in his team, but vibes still appear high inside the camp. I can see the Fire grinding one out for the fans.

Prediction: Fire 1-0 Charlotte

Christian Hirschboeck

The defense. That’s it.

Prediction: Fire 0-1 Charlotte

Jiggly Carollo

"We'll pretend this is normal/We'll pretend this is growth" It's going to be an unseasonably cold mid-week game that I'm pretty sure every person I've spoken to has said that they're not gonna even bother going to. I think that the Fire are going to take the opportunity to not even play a game. I think they're going to act like they played, they're going to have the players go out on the pitch for 90 minutes. But afterwards, it will be forgotten. Like all things that this club seems to do. Klopas will remain coach and the world will remain mostly the same. The score won't matter and I'm not sure if anyone will notice the message that it will send. But the Fire are defeated. Maybe not on the scoreboard, but in all other ways. And we'll still come back on Saturday like nothing even happened.

Prediction: Fire 0-0 Charlotte

Tim Hotze

The Fire have to win this one, against a Charlotte team that has just one road point all season. Have to.

Prediction: Fire 2-1 Charlotte

Matt Shabelman

It’ll be a sweat but we got this.

Prediction: Fire 2-1 Charlotte

Match Information and How to Watch

Date and Time: Wednesday, May 15, 2024, 7:30 PM CTLocation: Soldier Field, Chicago, Ill.Forecast: 59’F expected at kickoff, winds at 11 mph, 46% cloud cover and a 2% chance of precipitationTV: Apple TV – Free