Level up: Chicago Fire vs New England Revolution U.S. Open Cup Preview

In what seems like a blink of an eye after their win in Charlotte, the Chicago Fire continue their road swing, heading out for a Tuesday matchup against the New England Revolution. The match is the 92nd all-time matchup between the two teams, and the fourth in U.S. Open Cup play, with the Fire holding a 2-1 advantage in the competition.

Still, even 92 games in, the series is finding new ground to tread: This is the Fire’s first-ever match in the state of Rhode Island, with the Revs decamping from their normal stomping grounds of Gillette Stadium in Massachusetts. It’s also the first knockout match between the two teams since their last U.S. Open Cup meeting in 2016 (which gave New England their lone victory in the competition over the Fire).

The game also renews a historic rivalry between the two teams. In the 2000s, the Fire and Revolution met in fifteen playoff matches across eight separate series, producing a bitter rivalry between what were at the time two of the great powers in the Eastern Conference. With the series in MLS playoffs split at four wins a piece, the Fire’s 2-1 lead in the Open Cup is the margin between the two teams in knockout competitions.

Revolution a newly invigorated opponent

The Fire would love nothing more than to get a win in the team’s first-ever game in the Ocean State, sending the team to the U.S. Open Cup quarterfinal over a historic rival.

Not that long ago, that would’ve looked like an easy task: The Revs won just one of their first six games, a 2-1 decision over the New York Red Bulls, and had just one draw alongside four losses.

Since then, however, they’ve figured some things out: Most importantly, they switched away from the 4-2-3-1 that wasn’t really allowing Carles Gil, the 2021 MLS MVP, any opportunities to use his talents in favor of a 3-5-2 that allowed him to play as a true No. 10 attacking midfielder.

Around the same time, they got forward Leo Campana back from injury. The Revs were 0W-1D-1L to start the season, then Campana got hurt just 10 minutes into their game no. 3 and the Revs went 1-0-3 in his absence. Having the striker – who the Revs paid a league-record $3.5 million in GAM to acquire from Inter Miami from the offseason – available gave the Revs the extra spark they needed to get results.

I don’t want to oversell it – the Revs haven’t been blowing teams away. They lost the xG battle to San Jose on Saturday, something that’s happened four of their last six league games. They’ve also been getting outshot in basically every game, including in their previous U.S. Open Cup match against lower division Rhode Island FC, a game where they narrowly avoided the need for extra time off a 88th minute goal by Cristiano Oliveira, with the Revs advancing by a 2-1 scoreline.

While a lot of teams pride themselves on being able to win close games, it’s fair to say that the ball has been bouncing the Revs way a lot more often than not in recent months. That may be starting to change, however: The last two games have been draws, not wins, and Campana went off in just the 32nd minute on Saturday with an apparent hamstring injury.

Expect a Fire lineup prepared to win

Are the Fire prioritizing the Open Cup or league matches? No. At least, that’s what head coach Gregg Berhalter told reporters a few days ago.

“That's a narrative you hear often, what are you prioritizing; only five games to win a trophy and this and that. For us, it's about. we want to build a resilient team.” He later added, “you see how we approached last week [against Detroit City with how we were able to rotate some guys, keep some guys in there and overall put a team on the field in all three of those games that can compete, and that will be our objective” against for this week’s slate of games, including the one against the Revolution.

Berhalter’s ultimate goal? “We want to build a team that can deal with fixture congestion. We have aspirations for playing in the CONCACAF Champions Cup and if you do that it takes a toll on your squad.”

Well: If those aspirations are for next year, with the team not participating in the Leagues Cup this year and the remaining spots going to the MLS Cup Champion and the four teams with the most points at the end of the regular season, the most direct path to the continental competition is via the U.S. Open Cup. In other words, Berhatler is going to play a squad that he thinks can beat the Revs.

The Fire are in the happy position now of having competition for multiple spots. Starting with his start in the U.S. Open Cup, Maren Haile-Selassie has been making a case for more minutes. And as Alex Calabrese has become fond of pointing out, Rominigue Kouamé has one of the highest goals-per-90 ratings in MLS this season in limited minutes off the bench. With right-back Leonardo Barroso out, both Jonathan Dean and Omari Glasgow have been showing they have more tools in their belts than anyone thought they had.

How Will the Fire Line up Against the Revs?

The Fire now have enough good options not getting minutes that Berhalter can field a competitive lineup and yet, there’s still a number of questions as to who will start.

If this becomes Christopher Cupps’s second opportunity at a first-team start, I wouldn’t complain. If Berhalter gives Sam Rogers more time to adjust to the quality of an MLS opponent, particularly in a competition where he didn’t just earn a yellow in the previous match, I can see the logic. If this becomes Omar Gonzaléz’s first opportunity to start for the Fire, a year after he started 10 times for Dallas? I doubt it’ll happen but I can see the logic in giving Jack Elliott, a new father, an opportunity for rest.

Out wide, there’s justifications for starting Andrew Gutman, who’s been a mainstay for the team, but also a justification in giving him time off, particularly because Jonathan Dean, who can play on the left, has been showing real growth this season, and Omari Glasgow has been showing that he can take on the full wingback role.

Up top, the Fire don’t have a substitute for Hugo Cuypers, and the best way to get a striker to stay in form after a match where they had glorious opportunities but no goals is another opportunity on short turnaround. Philip Zinckernagel has been a mainstay, but Maren Haile-Selassie reminded all of us of his level against Detroit and has been buzzing since.

A key question revolves around Kellyn Acosta: The midfielder started off as captain for the Fire, and has five starts this season, but hasn’t played since going 90 against Detroit in a game where he looked something short of spectacular. Does Berhalter believe that the midfielder, who played some of his best minutes when he was coaching him for the U.S. Men’s National Team, should be given another chance at starting now?

The answers are dependent upon things that we, in the media, don’t see in training, but Berhalter has a plethora of options that feel, on the whole, like they can get the job done in the Ocean State.

Match Information and How to Watch

Date and Time: Tuesday, May 20th 2025, 6:30 PM CT Forecast: Temperatures in the high 50s with a 10% chance of rain Location: Chapey Field at Anderson Stadium, Providence, R.I. TV: Paramount+, CBS Sports Golazo