Chicago Fire and Nashville SC will bring their 2024 MLS regular seasons to an end this weekend when they face off at Soldier Field on Saturday night.
The hosts will enter the final matchday bottom of the Eastern Conference standings with 30 points, while they visitors are just two places and three points above them.
Match preview
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It has been another forgettable season for the Chicago Fire, who have only managed seven wins in 33 matches, and will end the campaign with at least seven fewer points than they managed last term.
While the playoffs are out of their reach, the one major incentive for the Fire to win this match will be that they will avoid ending the season bottom of the Eastern Conference, and could move up two spots if New England lose away to Inter Miami.
However, Chicago come into this fixture carrying a four-match winless run which includes a draw and three defeats, while they have only managed a single victory in their last 11 matches in all competitions.
Last time out, they suffered an agonising defeat to Charlotte, where they finished the match the better side by far, scoring twice in the final 20 minutes, but still came up on the wrong side of a 4-3 scoreline.
For Chicago, it is now about building for next season, and they have already taken the first steps to doing so, as this match will mark the first in charge for Gregg Berhalter, who was appointed as the side's director of football and head coach during the international break.
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Meanwhile, the 2024 campaign will go down as the worst in history for Nashville, as they are set to miss out on the post season for the first time since formally joining the MLS back in 2020.
The Coyotes have notched up only eight wins, along with nine draws and 16 losses this season, and another defeat here could lead to them ending bottom in the East, as they are currently level on a -19 goal difference with the Fire.
Avoiding defeat will likely keep them in 13th place, but their away record does not inspire too much confidence, having lost seven of their last eight league matches on the road, with a 2-0 win over Atlanta Untied last month being the only points earned during that period.
Undoubtedly, the biggest issue for the Boys in Gold in 2024 has been their lack of attacking output, having only scored 35 goals to date which is the joint-lowest across the entire MLS this year.
Still, B.J. Callaghan's side cannot be completely written off here, as they did beat this opponent 1-0 last month and have only lost once in their last six encounters against the Fire (W3 D2 L1).
Team News
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Chicago will head into the final match of the season without two first-team players in Andrew Gutman and Chase Gasper, who are ruled out due to a hamstring and leg injury respectively.
Brian Gutierrez has been operating in a more advanced role over the latter stages of the season, and he could be joined in attack by Tom Barlow, who came off the bench to score in stoppage time against Charlotte.
Nashville are also down two players for their final trip of the 2024 campaign in Tyler Boyd (knee) and Lukas MacNaughton (ankle), while Julian Gaines is flagged as a doubt owing to a knock.
Sam Surridge scored the winner against the Fire last month and should lead the line in this one, while Hany Mukhtar has had a hand in almost half of Nashville's 35 goals this season, now on eight assists and eight goals after netting the side's only goal against NYCFC last week.
Chicago Fire possible starting lineup:
Brady; Souquet, Omsberg, Czichos; Dean, Acosta, Gimenez, Herbers, Lassiter; Gutierrez, Koutsias
Nashville SC possible starting lineup:
Willis; Moore, Zimmerman, Maher, Lovitz; Godoy, Yazbek; Muyl, Shaffelburg; Mukhtar; Surridge
We say: Chicago Fire 2-1 Nashville SC
While Nashville only need a draw to guarantee they will not end bottom of the Eastern Conference this season, Chicago have avoided defeat in their last two home games, including a 2-1 win over the Red Bulls, and we feel the hosts may just be able to manage one more big performance before the rebuild for next term begins.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Devesh Jaganath
