For the second time this week, the Chicago Fire are at Soldier Field taking on the team ahead of them in MLS's Eastern Conference. This time, they're playing host to the New England Revolution.
The Revs are having a renaissance in the first year with former Fire assistant Marko Mitrović leading the team in the dugout, and now sit fourth in the east, with New England now a virtual lock to make the postseason.
That shows the progress that both squads have made in recent years: In 2024, when the Fire finished dead last in the East, the Revs were just one spot above them. In 2025, the Revs had a glimmer of hope of making the playoffs into September, but a 3-2 loss at the hands of the Fire all but shut the door.
This year, the two squads are battling for spots near the top of the conference as they've remained close in the standings all year: The two sides went into the World Cup break with the Revs just behind the Fire. Now, it's the Fire who are a point behind, though they hold a game in hand.
For Chicago, this last game of a mini-homestand gives the team an opportunity to reverse the slide they've found themselves in: Despite being undefeated in league play since their loss to New York City FC in July, they're also winless in four league games, allowing the Revs and Charlotte (who have played two more games than the Fire) to leap ahead of them in the standings.
Since the break, the Fire have played well in big games, however: they beat Liga MX champions Cruz Azul fell to Mexican powerhouse CF Monterrey in a close game, while managing a 1-1 draw against Inter Miami with all their firepower on Wednesday.
The Fire are knocking on the door of being one of the league's elite. What will it take to make it clear they're amongst them? "It's going to take just one performance against the top team," Chris Brady said in response to that question after Wednesday's draw.
"Thankfully, these next four or five games are against the top opponents in our conference. All it's going to take is one game, one dominant performance for us to really start to believe that we are one of the best teams in this league, and we can show that on a week in, week out basis, but we're right there.”
The first opportunity to do that, and retake third place in the East, is here.
New England
When the Fire last met the Revs in 2025, the story was that Carles Gil, who has long made a case for being the league's best no. 10 central attacking midfielder not named Lionel Messi, was, at age 32, starting to show his age.
In 2026, it feels like reports of the Spanish midfielder's decline were premature. He is once again playing like one of the best creators in the league. Behind him, goalkeeper Matt Turner has been absolutely lights out ‒ by advanced stats, by the eye test, he has been in a tier of his own as the best shot stopper in the league.
He's now a full member of the squad after signing a long-term deal to keep him in New England after initially returning on loan, and he is almost single-handedly responsible for the Revs goal differential staying in positive territory this year.
Outside of those two, however? Through most of the season, the Revs under Mitrović have been more about the collective than the individual parts. That includes a number of players that Mitrović was familiar with from his time with the US youth national team setup as well as Matt Polster, who had Mitrović as an assistant coach when both were with the Fire.
The collective did improve in the summer, however, as the Revs made a number of moves, headlined by bringing on winger (and former Fire draft pick) Jack Harrison from Leeds and attacking midfielder Dániel Gazdag from Columbus.
Chicago Fire
The Fire remain relatively healthy for this one, but the new international arrivals in Andres Hanche-Olsen and Anzor Mekvabishvili have yet to receive visa clearance.
Midfielder Anton Salétros, who has quietly been one of the engines behind the Fire's improved form over the past year, is listed as questionable after coming off late with an apparent injury against Miami on Wednesday, while Jonathan Bamba has been upgraded to questionable after being unavailable against Toronto and Miami.
Losing Salétros – particularly before the arrival of Mekvabishvili, who will be the closest like-for-like option at his position– is a setback for the Fire, but they do have a number of other options at midfield, including Maren Haile-Selassie, who has increasingly been used in those spots after playing mostly as a winger in his time in Chicago. Sergio Oregel Jr. and Mauricio Pineda are other options, but both would change the role somewhat.
Overall, though, it's a roster that does have most of the pieces available, and needs a win after settling for one point despite outplaying opponents in two of the team's past three outings, and playing mostly level with Miami over the course of 90 minutes.
