The Chicago Fire return to Allianz Field, the site of the team’s quarter-final exit from the U.S. Open Cup in July. As with last week’s game against New York City, the Fire will be looking to avenge a 3-1 defeat that spiraled from an early red card. Against the Loons, it was Omar González’s carelessness towards Julian Gressel with his team seeking to attack on a corner in the 25th minute. Amazingly, the Fire went off a penalty kick just three minutes later, but eventually conceded a tying goal before falling in overtime.

The result may seem inevitable when playing a man short for nearly 100 minutes, but it should give the Fire confidence that they can perform against Minnesota, a team in second place in the West and one that still has trophy aspirations – even if their U.S. Open Cup run came to an end after an extra time loss on Wednesday.

For the Fire, a win will prove that the team can compete with some of the league’s best – something that they will need to do if they make the playoffs and want to advance past a likely wildcard game. It’s a challenge Fire Head Coach Gregg Berhalter believes his squad relishes, saying, “For us, we love going on the road. We love playing in hostile environments, and this will certainly be that.”

Series History

All time (MLS): 2W-1D-3LLast match: July 8, 2025: Minnesota United 3-1 Chicago Fire FC (U.S. Open Cup), Allianz Field, St. Paul, MNLast MLS match: April 8, 2023: Chicago Fire 2-1 Minnesota United at Soldier Field, Chicago, Ill.

What to Expect

Minnesota United

When the Fire met Minnesota in the Open Cup, the team was in a similar position to where they are now: Towards, but not at, the top of their conference, playing some of the best football in team history under Eric Ramsay, now in his second year in the dugout in Minnesota.

The win over the Fire in the U.S. Open Cup put the Loons just two wins away from their first trophy since joining MLS, in a year when they also looked capable of a deep playoff run.

With a mountain of salary cap room, and a very real chance at hardware this season, what do you think Minnesota did in the transfer window?

1. Brought in a solid, burn ot inspiring attacking midfielder from a good, but not top league in Europe
2. Acquired young talent from the USL Championship, a league which Minnesota United have used better than almost any other MLS team in recent years
3. Sold their leading goal-scorer.

Trick question! The Loons did all three. The Loons biggest summer acquisition was Dominik Fitz, an attacking midfielder from Austria Vienna in the Austrian Bundesliga (at least one word those names seems superfluous) who has looked promising – if something short of a top-end difference-maker in this league. They also added Mamadou Dieng, a Senagalese forward who was playing for Hartford Athletic in the USL Championship – a league which has shown that it can yield solid MLS talent if you know where to look.

On top of that, they added Alexis Fariña on loan with an option to buy from Club Cerro Porteño in Paraguay (where former Fire midfielder Gastón Giménez plays), and Australian defender Nectarios Triantis from Sunderland in the Premier League (though he had spent his time on loan to Hibernian FC in the Scottish Premiership).

Individually, those acquisitions are all good moves, but together? They add up to a really strong window – except they also sold Tani Oluwaseyi to Villareal in La Liga, who departed the squad with 10 goals and eight assists, both of those the best numbers for Minnesota this season.

Dieng may eventually be a player of Oluwaseyi’s caliber – and it may not have been possible to say no to an €8m offer from Spain – but it isn’t clear if they’ll be able to replace what he did on the field this year, making it a confusing move in the context of a team looking to win their first trophy.

In the meantime, however, well, they’ve got Triantis, one of those new acquisitions, doing this

https://twitter.com/MLS/status/1967084768937292175

They’re a dangerous squad, one well-drilled in the team’s quick counter style, who have, as Gregg Berhalter noted on Thursday, been one of the league’s best teams at set pieces.

Still, they’re a squad that were outplayed last Saturday and wound up with a win, couldn’t really outplay a thoroughly “ok” Austin side midweek and now are facing the Fire with 120 minutes on their legs.

Chicago Fire

The most notable thing about the 2025 Chicago Fire squad has undoubtedly been its improved play under Head Coach Gregg Berhalter, who will be coaching his 200th game in MLS against Minnesota.

Behind that improved play, however, has been the play of Fire homegrowns, three of whom just signed contract extensions. The play of Chris Brady, Sergio Oregel Jr. and Mauricio Pineda has been a major part of the Fire’s turnaround this season. The trio have combined for just under 5,400 minutes.

While putting up serious minutes for the Fire might not be surprising for Chris Brady, returning for his year as a starter in net, or Mauricio Pineda, who had three consecutive seasons with more than 2,000 minutes (leading the team in minutes in 2021), it’s a remarkable turnaround for Oregel. The 20-year-old Fire midfielder made his MLS debut in 2022 in an 11 minute cameo, then did not make a first-team appearance again until starting in the team’s season opener against Columbus. Since then, he’s played 1,956 minutes, 74.9% of the team’s total in MLS.

Whether he starts or not against Minnesota, winning in the midfield will be key if the Fire are to buck the trend and find success against a top team.

One question around the squad is whether or not right-back Leonardo Barroso will be available. He had trained through the week last week before ending up on the unavailable list. He returned to training, but Berhalter said that it’s still up in the air. "We'll have to see. It's really a question of, can he get to his top speed. He's got some lingering pain from the hamstring when he really opens it up, and we know this game is going to need to open it up. So we are going to see, test him tomorrow, and be able to evaluate.”

If not, Dean has been capable, but does not have the explosive edge that Barroso has shown when he’s available.

Projected Starting XI

Match Information and How to Watch

Date and Time: Saturday, September 20, 2025, 7:30 PM CTForecast: Temperatures in upper 60s with rain and possible thunderstorm clearing around kickoffLocation: Allianz Field, St. Paul, MNTV: Apple TV – MLS Season PassRadio: wlsam.com (English), Que Buena Fire via the Uforia App (Spanish).