Sporting Kansas City vs. Chicago Fire FC | 2020 MLS Match Preview

Dylan Butler

2020 MLS Regular Season – Week 16
Sporting Kansas City vs. Chicago Fire FC
Children's Mercy Park – Kansas City
October 7 – 8:30 PM ET

STREAMING: FOX Sports App in US; MLS LIVE on DAZN in Canada

LOCAL TV: FOX Sports KC

Sporting Kansas City are looking to ride momentum from a victory over the Houston Dynamo on the weekend when they host the in-form Chicago Fire Wednesday night at Children's Mercy Park.

SKC (7W-5L-2D) are third in the Western Conference after a 2-1 win over the Dynamo Saturday, while the Fire (4W-7L-4D) are just below the playoff line in the East following a 2-2 draw with the Montreal Impact.

Sporting Kansas City

Alan Pulido is back and at the perfect time for Sporting KC. The Mexican international striker netted a brace Saturday night to lead SKC to a 2-1 win over the Dynamo. Pulido, who came on for a 25-minute substitute shift in a loss to Orlando, missed the club's previous four matches, only one of which they won. He also formed a nice partnership with midfielder Gianluca Busio, who set up both of his tallies.

"When Busio is in that advanced position, he finds really good balls in between the lines but more importantly he knows how to eliminate players and he can give a final pass. Busio is very good like that," Peter Vermes said after the match. "I think the difficulty for Busio tonight was a little bit in that he has been playing the number six for as much as he did, it’s a different fitness than playing as a number ten or a number eight like he did. He put a lot of work in tonight. I could tell he was getting tired there the last 5 or 10 minutes. But he found a way to bang out the result and grind it out. He did a really good job."

Pulido has been selected to Tata Martino's Mexican national team roster for international friendlies against the Netherlands on Oct. 7 in Amsterdam and Algeria on Oct. 13 in The Hague. Pulido will adhere to mandated health and safety protocols in accordance with international travel before rejoining Sporting Kansas City later this month for the final stretch of the MLS regular season.

Updated team roster
Injury Report:
- OUT: Felipe Gutierrez (M) - knee injury
- OUT: Matt Besler (D) - undisclosed injury
- OUT: Luis Martins (D) - undisclosed injury
Suspended: None
Suspended after next caution: None
International duty: Alan Pulido (F)

Chicago Fire FC

The Fire raced in front early and rallied late to equalize in a 2-2 draw against the Montreal Impact Saturday night at Red Bull Arena. Francisco Calvo headed in the tying goal after Robert Beric scored his fifth goal in as many games.

“That's what every team needs, right? A guy who scores, who knows where the goal is,” Raphael Wicky said is his post-match press conference. “And we knew that when we brought Robert in. I think it wasn't an easy year overall for everyone, for sure not for him as well. He had a little bit of a dry period. But I think it's important that you always keep believing and always keep working. And he's a striker who has proven goal-scoring records over the years. They know where the goal is. If they have a little dry period, they don't have to doubt. It's important to work, keep working.”

Updated team roster
Injury Report:
- OUT: Jeremiah Gutjahr (M) - knee injury
- OUT: Kenneth Kronholm (GK) - knee injury
- OUT: Luka Stojanović (M) - knee injury
Suspended: None
Suspended after next caution: Francisco Calvo (D)
International duty: Gaston Gimenez (M), Miguel Navarro (D)