With points at a premium as they look to remain in playoff position, the Chicago Fire have no reason to take lowly St. Louis City for granted, especially after they just stunned one of the top teams in MLS.
The Fire look to push their unbeaten run to five in a row Saturday night in Bridgeview, Ill., against a St. Louis side coming off last weekend’s stunning 3-1 victory over Nashville SC, the third-place team in the Eastern Conference.
Chicago (10-9-6, 36 points) owns the final playoff spot in the East but is far from comfortable, as the club is tied in points with the 10th-place New York Red Bulls. Though the Fire are amid a 2-0-2 stretch, they blew two one-goal leads during last weekend’s 2-2 home draw versus Los Angeles FC.
“It was very, very frustrating because we played really well, but it was good because we showed progress,” said Chicago’s Jonathan Bamba, who scored his fourth goal of the season.
“We’re playing really well together.”
Chicago hasn’t allowed more than two goals in 11 consecutive regular-season contests. However, it also hasn’t scored more than two in six straight matches.
Looking to add some offensive depth, the Fire acquired midfielder Andre Franco from Portuguese club FC Porto this week. He totaled 20 goals and 16 assists in more than 140 club matches.
Meanwhile, St. Louis (5-14-6 with 21 points) is looking to win two straight matches for just the second time in 2025 after last doing so in mid-March. The club had also only scored a season-high three goals twice all season before its big upset last weekend. Jaziel Orozco, Joao Klauss and Sangbin Jeong each scored versus Nashville SC.
“We know that we are having ups and downs during the season, but you can see that the team is improving,” said Klauss, who leads the team with eight goals and scored twice during a 3-1 home victory over Chicago last season.
“We know that we have to do more.”
St. Louis has lost seven road games in a row and recorded its only away victory at the Los Angeles Galaxy on March 9. The club also lost its only previous trip to Chicago, 1-0, in May 2023.
St. Louis will try to contain Fire All-Star Philip Zinckernagel, who has 10 goals with 12 assists in 2025.
–Field Level Media
