Fresh off a U.S. Open Cup victory that gave the Chicago Fire their home win of 2025, the team returns to league play as they host Atlanta United. The team will hope to carry over the form they found against lower-division Detroit City and find their first home win of their MLS season.

Victory would halt the team’s current six game winless slide, dating back to late March. Fire Head Coach Gregg Berhalter has denied feeling “pressure” to get a victory in front of home fans, reiterating that the team wants to win every game regardless of location, while also playing an entertaining brand of soccer.

After the game, however, the Fire will embark on a lengthy road trip, so anything short of a three points against Atlanta would leave the team winless until mid-June – the latest date for a home victory for the Fire since the 2006 season (excluding the COVID-interrupted 2020 campaign). The Fire’s victory on June 25th that year, however, came in just the team’s second home game of the season after a lengthy road trip to start the year as the team’s new home in Bridgeview was completed.

The game against an out-of-form Atlanta presents a prime opportunity for the Fire to get the monkey off their back and get their season back on track. The match is the team’s only early matinee of the season, and a sunny forecast combined with pleasant temperatures should help boost attendance. Will warm weather heat up the Fire’s season?

Series History

All time: 4W-3D-8LLast match: April 27, 2024: Chicago Fire 0-0 Atlanta United at Soldier Field, Chicago, Ill.

What to Expect

Atlanta United

Atlanta United went into the 2025 season hoping to build off of the grit they showed in last year’s postseason, where the team knocked off Inter Miami in the first-round proper after having to battle through a play-in match.

Last summer, the team saw significant roster turnover and brought in Alexsey Miranchuk in one of the priciest transfers in MLS history, only to perform like a ho-hum attacker. The hope, however, was that by bringing in a new head coach in Ronny Deila and a full offseason, and a star attacker in Emmanuel Latte Lath, who arrived Middlesbrough in an eye-watering $23 million deal, alongside the return of Atlanta United legend Miguel Almirón, Miranchuk would find the form that he showed in Europe and help the team to win.

Calling Miranchuk his “quarterback,” Deila made it clear that the Russian midfielder was being given the keys to the attack. So far, however, the keys may be in the ignition but the engine hasn’t been turning. Miranchuk has looked middling, at best, and Miguel Almirón is looking every bit the 31-year-old player that he is today, rather than the dynamic attacker who left for Newcastle United in 2019.

Add the fact that Deila’s tactics haven’t exactly been awe-inspiring, and with the first third of the season in the books, you’d struggle to say what kind of identity Atlanta have at the moment – that is, without some pretty heavily-shaded undertones.

As a result, Atlanta, despite spending over $40 million in transfers since last summer, Atlanta currently sit in 13th place in the East, with just two wins to their credit on the year, both at home. To be clear, there are some great parts in the Atlanta United squad, it’s just that Deila has really struggled to assemble it into something coherent so far.

Chicago Fire

The Fire don’t exactly have a lot of room to gloat, however: Despite strong play and plucky results including a gutsy 0-0 draw while down a man last week, they’re just three points ahead of Atlanta in the standings, having one more win than the visitors.

While Atlanta have been held back by not having an identity, it’s been simple miscues and errors that have all too often cost the Fire. Nowhere have those issues been more concentrated than the Fire’s back line, causing Fire head coach Gregg Berhatler to give 16-year-old Christopher Cupps his first MLS start last week. Eagle-eyed readers will note that the Fire have yet to concede with Cupps on the pitch, and while that can’t continue indefinitely, there’s early reason to hope that Cupps might help provide some of the stability the team  has been looking for from its center-back pairing. Cupps was rested against Detroit, in a match that in an alternate world might have been his first-team debut, likely a sign that he’s going to be tasked with protecting Jeff Gal’s net.

Gal will be getting his first MLS start, and even if Atlanta’s attack hasn’t exactly been humming, it’s still a team with a ton of talent. Helping Gal in is first starting performance since the MLS Next Pro playoffs last fall will involve staying disciplined and avoiding the gaffes that have cropped up far too often this season.

Before the U.S. Open Cup match on Wednesday, Berhalter made it clear that while some regular starters would be playing, minutes would also be given to players “on the cusp” of the Starting XI, calling out Maren Haile-Selassie specifically. He played a very strong game against Detroit midweek, and Philip Zinckernagel’s spot on the right wing is safe for now, an in-form Haile-Selassie provides a real attacking option off the bench.

Suddenly, however, the left wing is becoming a position of concern, with Jonathan Bamba’s white-hot start having cooled considerably. He played 53 minutes against Detroit, and although he showed flashes of the skill that makes him a top-end talent on this continent, overall, he had one of the weaker performances from the team (though we're still talking about a 4-0 win where it felt like the outcome was never really in doubt). While Brian Gutiérrez can play in that spot, he’s been performing well as a midfielder this year. With Chris Mueller out, Haile-Selassie is the other option, but it wouldn’t be surprising for Berhalter to give Bamba the nod with an eye to limiting his minutes later in the match if possible.

Even though Chris Brady’s one-game suspension leaves the Fire more vulnerable than they otherwise would be, this is still a highly winnable game for the Men In Red. The team’s failure to win at home has already been a talking point. Putting that to bed now – before the team meets Nashville at the midpoint of the team’s season – shuts that narrative down and will buoy the team ahead of a lengthy road trip against tough opposition.

Projected Starting XI

Panel Predictions

Alex Calabrese

Chicago Fire 3-2 Atlanta United

Tim Hotze

Chicago Fire 2-1 Atlanta United

Alan Królikowski

Chicago Fire 2-1 Atlanta United

Matt Shabelman

Chicago Fire 3-1 Atlanta United

Match Information and How to Watch

Date and Time: Saturday, May 10th 2025, 1:30 PM CTForecast: Sunny with temperatures in low 60sLocation: Soldier Field, Chicago, Ill.TV: Apple TV – MLS Season Pass