Orlando City and Chicago Fire face off this Sunday at the Exploria Stadium in the MLS, with both teams needing to bounce back from defeats. The hosts are in fifth place in the Eastern Conference with 27 points from 16 games, while the visitors are only in 11th place with 14 points, struggling to have a chance of reaching the playoffs.
Orlando City tries to return to MLS Cup in 2025
Orlando City had a troubled start to their MLS history, missing out on the playoffs in their first four years before finishing fourth in the Eastern Conference in 2020. However, all indications are that the team will finally be able to keep their quest for the MLS Cup title alive in 2025 with a solid regular season campaign.
Since 2019 under coach Óscar Pareja, the team have won seven, drawn six and lost just three of their 16 league games this season, leaving them just three points behind leaders Philadelphia Union. However, Pareja is keen that his team's momentum doesn't slip after their 12-game unbeaten run came to an end with a 3-2 defeat to Atalanta last time out.
For this weekend, Orlando City will be without Gustavo Caraballo (leg), Nicolás Rodríguez (thigh) and Yutaro Tsukada (cruciate ligament). In addition, Céar Araújo is also out of the squad due to the red card he received in the 77th minute against Atlanta.
Chicago Fire seeks to resume winning streak in final stretch of regular season
In search of a comeback in his career, Gregg Berhalter has once again been questioned by Chicago Fire fans with a very inconsistent campaign in the current MLS season. Last week, the Fire's four-game winning streak in all competitions came to an end after a 3-1 defeat to New York City FC
The Chicago Fire, after qualifying for the MLS Cup playoffs in 11 of their first 12 seasons, have only qualified twice in the last 15 years, a disappointment that many fans can't handle. At least Berhalter managed to improve on last season's performance with 19 points from 14 games, just three points off the qualification places.
Carlos Terán (muscle), Chase Gasper (hip), Chris Mueller (personal reasons), David Poreba (muscle) and Leonardo Barroso (muscle) are all unavailable. But the biggest problem is the absence of Brian Gutierrez and Dje Tah D'Avilla, as both were sent off against New York City FC.