Chicago Fire vs. Atlanta United | 2019 MLS Match Preview

Dylan Butler

2019 MLS Regular Season — Week 18
Chicago Fire vs. Atlanta United
SeatGeek Stadium — Bridgeview
July 3 - 8:00 PM ET

STREAMING: MLS LIVE on ESPN+ in US, on DAZN in Canada

The Chicago Fire look to snap a six-match winless streak when they host an Atlanta United side that has won three of its last four when the Eastern Conference foes square off at SeatGeek Stadium Wednesday night.

If they were more clinical in the final third, the Fire (4-7-7) might not have come away empty-handed at Red Bull Arena Friday night. Chicago outshot the Red Bulls 26-10 and out-possessed them 63%-37%, but New York raced ahead when Kaku punished goalkeeper Kenneth Kronholm for a heavy touch and easily slotted into the empty net eight minutes after kickoff. After Brian White doubled the Red Bulls' lead, Nemanja Nikolic pulled the visitors to within a goal in the 82nd minute, but Danny Royer put the game away in second-half stoppage time.

Atlanta rebounded from a wild midweek loss to Toronto FC to defeat the Montreal Impact, 2-1, Saturday night at Mercedes-Benz Stadium. Justin Meram provided the heroics with his first two goals for the Five Stripes, including the 83rd-minute winner after Zakaria Diallo leveled five minutes into the second half.

This is the second regular season meeting, with Atlanta winning, 2-0, at home on June 1 on a Josef Martinez first-half brace.

Chicago Fire

Injury Report:
- QUESTIONABLE: Johan Kappelhof (D) - thigh injury
Suspended: None
Suspended after next caution: Bastian Schweinsteiger (D), Francisco Calvo (D), Mo Adams(M)
International duty: Djordje Mihailovic (M)

Atlanta United

Injury Report:
- OUT: George Bello (D) - right adductor injury
- OUT: Hector Villalba (M) - knee injury
- OUT: Kevin Kratz (M) - quad injury
- OUT: Ezequiel Barco (M) - knee injury
Suspended: None
Suspended after next caution: None
International duty: None