A week after winning at home, the Chicago Fire are back on the road, where the team has found six of their eight wins on the season. They have a tough test against FC Cincinnati, currently second place in the Eastern Conference and tied for second on points across the 30-team league.

Following the team’s second home victory of the year, Fire Head Coach Gregg Berhalter noted that the team’s losses at home have come against “and it comes against the top team in the conference, the second team in the conference, and the third team in the conference. So we weren’t ready to beat the top teams yet, and we still may [not] be.”

One of those losses was to FC Cincinnati, where the team dropped a 3-2 decision on April 19th. In that game, the Fire arguably played well enough for a win, getting the better chances but being less clinical in finishing them than their opponent.

Combine that performance with the team’s strong record on the road, and they’ve got every reason for confidence against Cincinnati, a sentiment veteran center-back Omar González echoed. “I think the winning on the road, I can attribute that to just the group that we have, the group of players, the belief that that we can go anywhere and go toe to toe with any team, because we believe in the players in the locker room, believe in the players on the field, there's a huge belief for the guys on the bench, knowing that they can come in and beat the difference to solve the issues that we're having on the field.”

This match gives the Fire an excellent chance, then, to prove that they can “punch up” and beat opponents at the top of the table. Showing that ability, which the team has so far lacked, will be crucial for the Fire to find results in the next few weeks: The face Minnesota United (3rd in the West with 34 points) in a must-win U.S. Open Cup match on Tuesday before hosting San Diego FC (1st in the West) on Saturday.

Series History

All time: 4W-3D-6LLast match: April 19, 2025: Chicago Fire  2-3 FC Cincinnati at Soldier Field, Chicago, Ill.Last away match:  July 17, 2024: FC Cincinnati 3-2 Chicago Fire at TQL Stadium, Cincinnati, Oh.

What to Expect

FC Cincinnati

Most of what we talked about when the Fire hosted FC Cincinnati in April is still true: They’re still one of the strongest teams in MLS, currently tied for second overall in the 30-team league with 39 points and 12 wins.  They still are comfortable playing without the ball and responding with quick, counter attacking soccer. They’re still strong defensively but deadly on offense, with difference-makers like Evander up top.

Still, the Fire will face a depleted FC Cincinnati squad on Saturday: Center-back Miles Robinson is currently with the U.S. Men’s National Team (and Chris Brady). Like Brady, who has yet to feature for the USMNT, Robinson has only been used sparingly in this tournament. Missing a key player while they’re performing on (arguably) a bigger stage is one thing, but some part of FC Cincinnati Head Coach Pat Noonan certainly wishes that Robinson was back in the squad if he won’t be featuring in the Gold Cup.

That’s not the only center-back that FC Cincinnati will be missing: Nick Hagglund is out with a long-term injury, and twenty-nine year-old Teenage Hadebe, meanwhile, is questionable – but hasn’t been training, likely ruling him out, after an ankle injury last Saturday. While team captain Matt Miazga is working his way back to his former self after a long-term injury that kept him out through most of 2024, and while the team has other options at the position, FC Cincinnati have been pretty wed to playing three center-backs. That’s the number they’ll likely have available, including second-choice options like Alvas Powell.

On top of that, starting left wingback Luca Orellano is out, as is the versatile Yuya Kubo, who has played well in a variety of positions throughout the lineup for FC Cincinnati. Starting defensive midfielder Obinna Nwobodo will also be unavailable for months following surgery this week.

FC Cincinnati still have two of their most explosive players in attacking midfielder Evander and forward Kevin Denkey, but the squad supporting them is thin. A need for substitutions, planned or unplanned, will begin to test Noonan’s creativity with his short bench.

Chicago Fire

This is likely the last league match where the Fire will be without normal starting goalkeeper Chris Brady, currently serving as the third goalie with the U.S. Men’s National Team who play in a Gold Cup Final on Sunday.  So far, Jeff Gal has performed admirably in his place, and certainly hasn’t cost his team points in the standings with his play.

That means the only game-in, game-out starter the team will be without is Carlos Terán, whose last minutes for the team came against FC Cincinnati back in April. He lasted just 19 minutes, however, before being subbed off with an injury. Midfielders Kellyn Acosta and Rominigue Kouamé are also unavailable for this match, but the pair have just 820 minutes and nine starts between them this year.

Since Terán’s injury, the Fire have had a rotating cast playing alongside Jack Elliott, with Sam Rogers serving as the normal preferred option. Christopher Cupps, just 17 years old, was beginning to make a strong case for more minutes before he was injured with the U.S. Youth National Team. Rogers has also missed time with injury, putting 36-year-old González into Gregg Berhalter’s starting lineup.”

The Fire’s sometimes makeshift lineup has proven effective. “We've seen that time and time again this season, where guys are called upon to come in, and they've executed great,” González, whose 300th MLS appearance came last Saturday, said “and we've ended up getting points on the road,” concluding by saying “we just got to keep it rolling.”

Projected Starting XI

Match Information and How to Watch

Date and Time: Saturday, July 5, 2025, 6:30 PM CTForecast: Sunny with temperatures around 87ºF at kickoffLocation: TQL Stadium, Cincinnati, Oh.TV: Apple TV – MLS Season Pass