The New England Revolution look to clinch a playoff berth on Saturday as they travel to Soldier Field to take on the Chicago Fire in the final match of a three-game road trip.
New England were defeated 2-1 by last-place Colorado last Saturday as Cole Bassett and Calvin Harris staked the Rapids to a two-goal lead before Omar Gonzalez ensured a grandstand finish in stoppage time.
The Revolution are winless in three and have dropped to fifth place in the Eastern Conference standings.
Chicago has gone six matches without a win in MLS play since returning from the Leagues Cup and they have been shut out in five consecutive matches.
The wretched run of form has seen the Fire, one of the early-season surprises as they were occupying a playoff position, sink all the way down to 11th in the East but they are only three points from a postseason spot.
Team news
Xherdan Shaqiri is suspended after picking up a red card in the defeat to Columbus and Arnaud Souquet will also miss out through yellow card accumulation.
Kacper Przybylko, Jonathan Dean and Carlos Teran all returned to action on Wednesday night but Mauricio Pineda and Rafael Czichos were forced off with injuries.
Federico Navarro has missed the last two matches with a leg injury while Victor Bezerra, Javier Casas and Chris Mueller are all sidelined with right leg injuries.
Goalkeeper Tomas Vaclik has joined the club after receiving international clearance but interim manager Clint Peay has said this game may come too soon for the Slovakian to be involved.
Matt Polster is expected to return in defense after serving a one-match suspension for yellow card accumulation and Maciel returned with the reserve team as he makes his way back to full fitness.
Gustavo Bou (leg) and Henry Kessler (hamstring) are progressing in training while Brandon Bye (ACL) and Dylan Borrero (knee) remain unavailable.
Predicted lineups
Chicago Fire: Brady; Navarro, Omsberg, Terán, Dean; Giménez, Doumbia; Haile-Selassie, Gutiérrez, Herbers; Kamara
New England Revolution: Edwards Jr.; Jones, Romney, Farrell, Polster; Kaye, Harkes; Chancalay, C. Gil, N. Gil; Vrioni
Ones to watch
Chris Brady (Chicago Fire)
The 19-year-old goalkeeper has made 84 saves in his 25 starts this season. He recorded his career-high seventh clean sheet of the campaign, the second-highest for a Fire goalkeeper in the last six seasons in Montreal.
With the club struggling to score goals, the play of Brady has been both a bright spot and key to keeping Chicago's playoff hopes alive.
Omar Gonzalez (New England Revolution)
Gonzalez has stepped into the heart of the defense through injuries and played every minute of the last five matches and made his 300th appearance in MLS in Colorado last Saturday.
He scored his first goal for the club in Denver which showcased his aerial ability and attacking threat but it's at the other end of the pitch where he'll be counted on the most.
Previous meetings
In May, the two sides played out a thrilling 3-3 draw, a match that saw New England rally from 2-0 and 3-2 deficits to earn a point.
Chicago opened the scoring after ten minutes when Shaqiri stole the ball and fed Georgios Koutsas, who scored into the bottom left corner through a defender's legs.
The lead was doubled as Shaqiri again fed Koutsias, who this time found Navarro and his cross deflected off the leg of Revolution defender Andrew Farrell and into the back of the net.
After a steal by Latif Blessing, Bobby Wood passed to Noel Buck and his fierce left-footed shot from outside the box beat Fire goalkeeper Chris Brady to halve the deficit.
Two minutes later, New England were level. Emmanuel Boateng sent in a corner that Christian Makoun headed to Wood, his header finding the back of the net.
Substitute Brian Gutierrez started the sequence that gave Chicago the lead again as he found Kei Kamara, who passed to Maren Haile-Selassie and his left-footed shot beat Djordje Petrovic.
Four minutes after that, the Revolution tied it again. Carles Gil lofted a corner kick into the box, Dave Romney headed it towards the far post and after the ball slipped past a Chicago defender, Jozy Altidore was on hand to tap home.
How to watch
The match will be streamed nationally on Apple TV + with Eric Krakauer serving as the play-by-play analyst and Lloyd Sam as the analyst.
Kickoff is set for 8:30pm Eastern time.