Contending for Eastern lead, Nashville SC take on Fire
Nashville SC are aiming for first place in the Eastern Conference but have not won a road match in more than a month.
Meanwhile, the Chicago Fire haven't lost three straight home matches, across all competitions, within the same season in nearly 13 years.
Eager to halt a three-match winless road rut, Nashville tries to remain undefeated all-time against the Fire on Saturday night.
Nashville (11-5-5, 38 points) sits six points behind MLS-leading FC Cincinnati in the East, and is coming off a key 2-0 home victory over D.C. United. That triumph followed back-to-back road defeats at CF Montreal and the Columbus Crew by a combined 3-0 scoreline.
"It's important that we won," said Nashville's Randall Leal, who scored twice against D.C. "Now, we have a good challenge next game against Chicago."
Nashville, though, has totaled one goal during its current 0-2-1 road stretch that followed a 2-1 victory on June 3 at FC Dallas. Superstar Hany Mukhtar has recorded just five of his MLS-leading 13 goals in 10 matches away from home in 2023.
However, Nashville is 2-0-2 all-time against Chicago and rode a hat trick from Mukhtar to a 3-0 home victory over the Fire on May 6. It was his second three-goal match in as many appearances against the Fire (5-7-8, 23 points), who are three points below the playoff line in the East.
Chicago's bid for a third straight win ended with last weekend's 3-1 loss at Orlando City. Now, it will try to avoid losing a third consecutive home match over all competitions in the same season for the first time since July 8-17, 2010.
"For us, it's just, at home, coming out with really good energy -- being organized," interim Fire coach Frank Klopas said. "We just have to be a little more focused with the decision-making in the end."
Both of Xherdan Shaqiri's goals for Chicago this season have come in his last three matches. Meanwhile, Fire All-Star Kei Kamara (team-leading five goals) has failed to score in his last four at home, spanning all competitions.
--Field Level Media
