The Chicago Fire continue their road trip, heading to Harrison, NJ to take on the New York Red Bulls.
The match is an opportunity for revenge for the Fire to avenge their defeat at the Red Bulls' hands at Soldier Field. That loss, on May 9th, was the first time the Fire lost a game by multiple goals in any competition this year in a game where new Red Bulls head coach Michael Bradley allowed the Fire to dominate possession and used his youth-led squad to catch the Fire on quick counters.
The game is also a chance for this edition of the Fire tie a club record: The white-hot team is now on a six game winning streak across all competitions, the second-longest in team history after an 11 game stretch in their inaugural 1998 season.
That fourth game of that stretch, however, was a win in penalty kicks over the LA Galaxy after regulation in an era when MLS had no draws. This match represents an opportunity to tie the seven regulation wins that followed, which remains a team record.
New York Red Bulls
As we previewed this match on the The Bonfire, one major talking point was how youth-led the Red Bulls have been under first year Head Coach Michael Bradley.
Of the 11 players with the most minutes for the Red Bulls this year, seven are 23 or younger. Three, in forward Julian Hall, midfielder Adri Mehmeti and defender Matthew Dos Santos, are teenagers.
Although not all are local products – notably, Cade Cowell and Jahkeele Marshall-Rutty are included in the youth group above – many are.
In many ways, it's a welcome change: For a team connected to a global soccer empire in one of the richest and deepest talent pools in the country, the Red Bulls have had a mixed record developing talent: Although they have notable successes like USMNT midfielder Tyler Adams, they have also allowed a lot of talent to wither on the vine.
Overall, though, it feels like the goal is for future returns, and not this year: Although the squad had notched some notable wins, they've also suffered some significant defeats, including a 6-1 shellacking by FC Cincinnati earlier this year.
There's also a question of how long this group will be together, as it feels like Hall, who leads the team with nine goals, is very much in the shop window and available for a move to Europe's highest bidder.
Chicago Fire
Given the congested schedule, the Fire have been rotating players – as Head Coach Gregg Berhalter noted after the team's win Wednesday night, four or five starters have been rotated between matches.
Throughout that stretch, the team has maintained their winning streak by rotating in a number of options to the usual candidates for the Starting XI.
By doing that, Berhalter has been able to field lineups that he had every reason to think would be competitive (proof? they won all of them).
The question is if that will continue, with a must-win matchup against Rayados on the horizon. That game is without a doubt the most important singular match the Fire have played this year: A victory puts them just one more win Leagues Cup win away – either in the semifinal or in the third place game – from a berth in the CONCACAF Champions Cup for the first time in the tournament's modern era.
Since his arrival in 2025, Berhalter has been clear about his views on rotation: The team will seek to compete in every game they play.
Still, with such a prize on the horizon, you have to think that he'll want to have his best players fresh and ready for extended minutes in that game.
That may well mean that, in a possible revenge game against the so-called Baby Bulls, he'll rely on the younger members of his squad.
Sergio Oregel Jr. won't be available due to injury, but Christopher Cupps, Jason Shokalook – who has scored at against opponents at every level he's had an opportunity to start against – and others, including Robert Turdean – may very well be in line for serious minutes, if not starts.
Oh, and one other young player who may see the pitch? Sam Williams, who came up through the Red Bulls' academy. Williams was recently recalled – just for a week, heading back to his loan with the Colorado Switchbacks on Monday, ahead of the Fire's game against CF Monterrey.
Since being traded to the Fire, there has been little love lost between the midfielder and his former. He's here for two games. He didn't play in one. Prudent call up? Or a possibility to make this a revenge game on a more personal level?
The bench has shown what they can do when starting alongside the usual suspects. This may be our opportunity to see if they can hold their own as a group, and make a case that, in Berhalter's parlance, they aren't substitutions: They're solutions.
Lineup and Match Information
