The two MLS teams with the longest playoff drought meet at SeatGeek on Saturday, as the Fire host D.C. United. Both teams are currently out of the playoffs looking in and would love to walk away from Bridgeview with three points in hand as they look to change their team’s fortunes.

The match is the first of two on the season for the Fire at SeatGeek stadium. Can the Fire find the spark to defeat a long-time conference rival in their former home?

Series History

All time: 28W-23D-27LLast Match: May 25, 2024: D.C. United 1-1 Fire at Audie Field, Washington, D.C..Last Home Match: April 1, 2023: Fire 0-0 D.C. United at Soldier Field, Chicago, Ill.

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D.C. United

Since their Leagues Cup exit in the round of 32 thanks to an early red card after topping their group, D.C. United lost the first game in MLS play against FC Dallas in a 4-3 decision where all of Dallas’s goals were scored before the team went up a man while D.C. were actually able to pull one back after going short handed. Last week, they tallied a 3-1 victory in Toronto, giving the team their third road win of the season. As a result, D.C. have 29 points, sitting just two behind the postseason line, two points behind Atlanta and four from eighth place Toronto.

Fire

The Fire once again hosted Inter Miami to a 4-1 scoreline, but this time, the victory was the visitor’s. The match marked the first time that Miami defeated Chicago at home and put the team back below a point-per-game pace on the season. The Fire sit in 14th place in the Eastern Conference, though they’re level on points with New England (who have more wins and two games in hand) and last-place Nashville. The only team with fewer points in the league is San Jose.

The Storyline

In MLS’s early history, the most feared teams in the league were D.C. United and the Chicago Fire. D.C. United won the inaugural MLS Cup in 1996 and repeated a year later. In 1998, they once again reached the Cup final, losing out to the insurgent Chicago Fire and dashing D.C.’s hopes for a threepeat. A year later, D.C. United would once again become champions. The Chicago Fire, meanwhile, made it back to the Cup final the following season, falling just short of the team’s second MLS Cup despite dominating the game.

The last major trophy won by either team was D.C.’s 2013 U.S. Open Cup title, a victory they paired with winning the Wooden Spoon for the last place team – an ignominious double. Since that time, the Fire won the Spoon twice and D.C. United finished last in 2022. Now, the teams hold the two longest active playoff droughts in the league: Four seasons for D.C., six for the Fire.

That’s something both teams would desperately like to change, but with just seven matches to go and both teams on the outside of the postseason looking in, there isn’t much runway left for either side. The significance isn’t lost on Fire Head Coach Frank Klopas, telling reporters midweek that “we’ve talked about the importance of every game and picking up points. We are playing all the teams now that we’re basically fighting for one or two spots in the playoffs. They’re all massive games.”

This is the Fire’s first of two matches at SeatGeek, the team’s home for 14 seasons and a place that still has significance for many who have a long connection to the club, including Andrew Gutman, who has never had a senior start at the venue in a Fire uniform, saying “, I think it will be a really cool experience for me. This is a stadium that I grew up watching the Fire play in. I played in it in the Academy. When I was training with the first team we trained on the pitch. I still remember it as Toyota Park, when people asked me where I'm playing, I forget that it's called SeatGeek now.”

The move, forced by the Bears game at Soldier Field this weekend, creates a different, though not unwelcome feeling for the team, according to Klopas: “The atmosphere when you get 10,000 people, the atmosphere becomes really great. You know, the fans are right on top of you, so it's a different feeling. It's a different vibe, obviously. It's an area that the players feel at home and feel comfortable.”

The Fire will hope that that comfort translates into results on Saturday.

D.C. United Players to Watch

Christian Benteke: Benteke is undeniably a difference maker in MLS. He’s currently level with Chicho Arango atop the MLS Golden Boot race, with 17 goal contributions. More than just his scoring is his utter dominance in the air. So far this season, he’s won 253 aerial duels, by far the most in the league and more than the next three leaders (including his teammate Lucas Bartlett) combined.

Theodore Ku-Dipietro: Outside of Benteke, the D.C.’s goal production falls off a distinctively sharp cliff, but Ku-DiPietro has been a bright spot for D.C. this season. The 22-year-old homegrown (one of the few youthful starters on the squad) has become a regular starter for his squad and is third on the team in expected goal contributions, and is tied for third in actual goal contributions, with two goals and three assists on the year.

Fire Keys to Victory

• Trigger warning: Other than arguably St. Louis, no team is as dedicated to the high press as D.C. United are. The key to breaking down the press is understanding what the pressing triggers are and manipulating them, something not lost on Frank Klopas, who said that “Our decision-making and understanding where pressure is coming up, that's the No. 1 thing, how are they pressing us, in order to find solutions to break them down, but also our ability now at times to break that pressure when they are stepping off and they are very aggressive, we are going to have opportunities in 1v1 situations against their backline.”  D.C. have an older squad, but will have an even older lineup and a short bench due to injuries and call-ups, something that will make those 1v1s more likely and give the Fire – Hugo Cuypers in particular – opportunities on Bono’s net as the game wears on
• Heads up: This isn’t just a hackneyed reference to headers, but to the mental game and awareness, something that has cost the Fire points this season. It’s not lost on Andrew Gutman, who when asked about defending against D.C.’s direct, high-pressing style, said “I think just you've got to be strong in your duels. You've got to be super aware of the balls into the channels. You've always got to be on the front foot and eliminate the chances of them getting their head up and able to play in behind.”

Panel Predictions

Alex Calabrese

Prediction: Fire 2-0 D.C.

Jiggly Carollo

Prediction: Fire 1-1 D.C.

Tim Hotze

Prediction: Fire 2-1 D.C.

Matt Shabelman

Prediction: Fire 4-1 D.C.

Match Information and How to Watch

Date and Time: Saturday, September 7, 2024, 7:30 PM CTLocation: SeatGeek Stadium, Bridgeview, Ill.Forecast: 61’F expected at kickoff, winds at 13 mph, 26% cloud cover no chance of precipitationTV: Apple TV – MLS Season Pass