The second installment of Major League Soccer’s newest rivalry takes place on Saturday afternoon as the Chicago Fire hosts St. Louis City SC at Soldier Field.
The teams had their first-ever meeting this past week in the U.S. Open Cup. Chicago was also at home on that occasion, and they made the most of their advantage by winning 2-1 on the night to book their place in the next round.
It was only the start of the rivalry, and the two fanbases have already exchanged plenty of messages on social media. There’s genuine beef here, and that’s what makes this weekend’s matchup so exciting.
Here are some things to watch out for.
Battle at high noon
This contest will take place at noon local time, which is certainly different.
Chicago has played all but one of their games at around 7:30 pm, and the exception was a match at 4 pm. St. Louis, meanwhile, hasn’t had a single early contest this season.
MLS mainly had night games in the past, and that has become especially true this year due to the league’s broadcasting deal with Apple. They want all the matches to kick off at around the same time, which has led to fewer and fewer games at different times.
That will add a new dynamic to this contest. The players will be able to adjust since they are professionals, but the change will still mess with them. Their routines will be off, and they’ll have to alter what they eat and what time they do eat. I can’t find the quote anymore, but I swear Wayne Rooney once said that he hates early kick-offs because they forced him to “scarf down pasta” at a strange hour.
Neither side will benefit from the different time, of course, but it’ll be interesting to see how it affects the contest on the day.
Going again
As mentioned earlier, the two sides faced off this past Tuesday in the Open Cup.
Chicago named a first-choice starting lineup for the match, committing everything they had to advance to the next round. St. Louis did start a few big names, but they also rotated a decent amount of the squad. That had an impact on the final score, as the Fire edged out a 2-1 win.
The obvious changes will be with the St. Louis lineup, as they’ll name their best starting eleven possible for this contest. However, there will certainly be some more subtle tweaks from both sides.
Chicago might have captain Rafael Czichos available once again. He’d certainly walk back into the lineup, but who partners him then becomes the question to answer. Wyatt Omsberg is a much-more traditional centerback, but Mauricio Pineda has excelled as of late at the back, and the club are really high on him. Ombserg is better defensively, but Pineda offers more in possession.
There are also questions further forward. Chris Mueller has been a key attacker ever since arriving last season, but he might be the odd man out following his return from injury. Brian Gutiérrez and Maren Haile-Selassie have had breakout campaigns, and it’s clear that Chicago isn’t going to bench Xherdan Shaqiri if he’s available. Mueller is a great option to have off the bench, but seeing him there will be somewhat strange.
St. Louis has issues of their own. Their diamond midfield wasn’t effective enough against Chicago, and their lack of width hurt them on the night. Célio Pompeu has been the man to replace the injured João Klauss, but he’s not had the best season so far. How long will the guys that played on Tuesday night, like Eduard Löwen, be able to go this time around?
The two teams playing each other twice in such a short span should set the stage for an intriguing matchup tactically.
Super Frank
The main focus will be on Chicago since they have a new man in charge. Well, technically a new man.
Frank Klopas is back in charge on an interim basis for the rest of the season following the dismissal of former head coach Ezra Hendrickson. That news came out on Monday, and the cup game was only the day after, which gave Klopas almost no time to prepare.
That’s why there wasn’t much change when it came to the lineup and the way the Fire played. Klopas has been an assistant this year, so he already knew how the side was set up, and he made the smart decision to pretty much leave things as they were.
Since he has more time now, though, there’s a chance that he could switch some things up. The former player, head coach, commentator, and assistant knows that he’ll be here for the rest of the campaign, so he has the freedom to make adjustments when he sees fit.
Klopas already got fans excited when he mentioned that he could see Xherdan Shaqiri used on the wing in a 4-3-3 sort of formation. Shaqiri had been forced to play up the middle during Hendrickson’s tenure, but that decision never worked out. People have been begging for him to return to the wing, and it seems like the new boss is willing to entertain the idea. The change in system would only be an added bonus since Chicago had been too stubborn to adapt in the past.
What else he comes up with remains to be seen. Jairo Torres should be back from injury, so Klopas will have to find a way to fit him in the lineup. Then there’s the selection headache at center back between Omsberg and Pineda I mentioned earlier. The situation at fullback or in midfield isn’t super clear either.
It’s time for Klopas to cook.
Crowd control
Let’s talk about every soccer fan's favorite thing, attendance figures.
A hefty bulk of the jokes made by the City fanbase as of late have been about the Fire’s attendance, or lack thereof. It’s fair enough to point out, as they’re averaging a crowd of about 12,000 this season, with that figure coming down to 10,500 if you don’t count the number on opening day.
The time of this game won’t help in terms of getting people to the stadium. Everyone likes to relax on a Saturday, and getting up early to drive over to a match won’t sound too appealing to most. Will that lead to an even lower number than usual?
Then again, there’s going to be some pressure on St. Louis to bring in supporters. Even though they’re closer to Sporting Kansas City, it feels like their real rivalry is with the Fire.
These derby days only grow in atmosphere when the away fans arrive, and there were expectations that City were going to have a pretty sizable group of fans coming to Chicago since it’s the first MLS matchup between the two. The Open Cup wasn’t a promising sign, though, as barely anyone was in the away end, even if it was a cup game during the week.
So, there’s a decent chance neither side will have too many supporters there this weekend. In a venue the size of Soldier Field, that could lead to a strange setting, especially since it'll be so early in the day.