After spending two weeks in good form and raising the spirits of the fan base and those around, the Chicago Fire had all of that smashed against Toronto FC. Looking outmatched all game, the Fire looked unable to stop TFC's attack despite them missing one of their key midfielders in Michael Bradley. The loss prevented Chicago from climbing out of the cellar of the Eastern Conference Standings. Chicago still sits bottom of the table with 14 points but are still only two behind 9th place Columbus Crew. The Fire will have another chance to jump them in the standings. But it won't be easy as they face a team that has double the points they have this season in Sporting Kansas City.
Sporting coming in on a winning streak
Sporting KC comes into this fixture the same way Chicago did into their fixture last week. On a two-game winning streak. They recently defeated New York City FC 3-1 on Sunday night and escaped against the Crew a week before that. Sporting has only lost one game in their last seven games, with a 3-1 2016 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup loss to the Houston Dynamo being their only blemish in recent memory. They are now over .500 thanks to the win against New York City and look to separate themselves from the middle of a messy part of the table.
Right now KC sits 5th in the Western Conference table with 28 points, with one point separating them from 3rd place Real Salt Lake. With a win, they could find themselves in 3rd place heading into next Saturday's match against the Colorado Rapids.
Even with main center back Matt Besler on the bench due to poor form, Kansas City is still rolling along. Like always, they are relying on star striker Dom Dwyer, who will be a tough assignment for the opposing defense.
They also made some roster moves in the past couple of days. First off, they acquired midfielder Cameron Porter for defender Amadou Dia in a trade with the Montreal Impact. Porter, who was the 45th pick in the 2015 MLS SuperDraft, will add depth in the middle of the park for SKC. The signing of midfielder Emmanuel Appiah was also announced today.
Change at striker for the Fire?
Against Toronto FC, Fire fans got a first glimpse of new striker Michael De Leeuw. The striker, from the Netherlands, was subbed on in the second half and looked very strong in his debut for the team. He was making runs and causing problems for the TFC defense, something Chicago didn't do up until that point.
It will be very interesting to see if he gets a start against Sporting Kansas City. He is relatively fresh and should be the top choice at striker for the Fire.