Chicago Fire FC is back on the lakefront for a primetime Eastern Conference showdown against the New York Red Bulls. The match will kick off at 6:30 p.m. CT and will be broadcast across the globe on MLS Season Pass on Apple TV. It will be transmitted locally in English on WLS 890 AM and in Spanish on Que Buena Fire via the Uforia App.
Coming off a 2-0 shutout of CF Montréal north of the border, the Fire will now turn their attention to the Red Bulls, who are only one point above them in the Eastern Conference standings Director of Football and Head Coach Gregg Berhalter has thus named the following Starting XI tasked with leapfrogging New York into the playoff race:
- Four changes have been made to the Starting XI that earned a league-high seventh road victory of the season in Montreal.
- Carlos Terán returns to a Fire lineup for the first time since April. The Colombian center back will make his fifth start of the season alongside Fire captain Jack Elliott, who was named to the MLS Team of the Matchday for his performance against CF Montréal on Matchday 26.
- Homegrown midfielder Sergio Oregel Jr. returns to the starting lineup after serving a suspension for yellow card accumulation. He will slot into his regular position alongside fellow Homegrown Brian Gutiérrez.
- Joining Oregel Jr. and Gutiérrez in the middle of the pitch will be Dje D’Avilla, who makes his second start of the regular season after playing 81 minutes in his first start in a 2-2 draw at Atlanta United FC on July 16.
- Also returning to the Starting XI is winger Jonathan Bamba, who has played in every match this season and starts his 23rd match of the year. He will hope to repeat the form he displayed in his first match against the Red Bulls on April 5, when he scored his first goal with the Fire.
- Right back Leonardo Barroso will start his seventh match of the season opposite left back Andrew Gutman, who starts his 24th game of the year.
- Goalkeeper Chris Brady will look for a back-to-back clean sheet for the first time since getting two in a row in July 2024 against New York City FC and FC Cincinnati. He will also seek his seventh victory of the season, which would match his total in 2024.
- Philip Zinckernagel returns from recording an assist in the 2025 MLS All-Star Game in Austin, Texas to start for the 22nd time this season for Chicago. The Danish winger became the first Fire player to record 10 goals and 10 assists in a single season last time out against CF Montréal last Saturday. He will line up next to forward Hugo Cuypers, who scored his 13th of the year in the same match and now will look for his 24th goal in two seasons with Chicago.
- Defenders Sam Rogers (Lower Body) and Christopher Cupps (Lower Body), and midfielders Chris Mueller (Not Due to Injury) and David Poreba (Lower Body) are unavailable for selection tonight.
- Goalkeeper Jeff Gal; defenders Jonathan Dean and Omar González; midfielders Rominigue Koaumé, Maren Haile-Selassie, Mauricio Pineda, Kellyn Acosta and Omari Glasgow; and forward Tom Barlow will be available off the bench tonight.
