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Major League Soccer returns with a fresh set of fixtures as Chicago Fire and Columbus Crew lock horns at the Soldier Field Stadium on Saturday. Having lost the last three meetings between the sides, Frank Klopas’ side will head into the weekend looking to get one over the Crew and end their six-match winless run.
Chicago Fire failed to stop the rot as they suffered a 1-0 defeat against Charlotte FC when the sides met at the Soldier Field Stadium on Wednesday.
Klopas’ men have now lost three games on the bounce and have failed to win their last six matches, picking up just two points from a possible 18 since a 2-1 victory over Houston Dynamo on April 7.
With 10 points from 13 matches, Chicago Fire are currently second from bottom in the Eastern Conference table, three points above last-placed New England Revolution.
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Columbus Crew, on the other hand, returned to winning ways last time out when they saw off CF Montreal 3-1 at the Saputo Stadium.
Prior to that, Wilfried Nancy’s side were on a seven-game winless run in the league, losing twice and claiming five draws since late March.
Columbus Crew have picked up 18 points from 12 matches so far to sit seventh in the East but could move into fourth place with all three points this weekend.
Chicago Fire vs Columbus Crew Head-To-Head
With 25 wins from the last 72 meetings between the sides, Columbus Crew holds a slight upper hand in the history of this fixture. Chicago Fire have picked up two fewer wins in that time, while the spoils have been shared on 24 occasions.
Chicago Fire Form Guide: L-L-L-D-L
Columbus Crew Form Guide: W-L-W-D-W
Chicago Fire vs Columbus Crew Team News
Chicago Fire
Chicago Fire remain without the trio of Tobias Salquist, Maren Haile-Selassie and Chase Gasper, who have been sidelined through injuries.
Injured: Tobias Salquist, Maren Haile-Selassie, Chase Gasper
Suspended: None
Columbus Crew
Jacen Russell-Rowe and Evan Bush are recuperating from knee and arm injuries respectively and will play no part in this weekend’s game.
Injured: Jacen Russell-Rowe, Evan Bush
Suspend: None
Chicago Fire vs Columbus Crew Predicted XI
Chicago Fire Predicted XI (4-2-3-1): Chris Brady; Arnaud Souquet, Carlos Teran, Rafael Czichos, Andrew Gutman; Federico Navarro, Kellyn Acosta; Brian Gutierrez, Xherdan Shaqiri, Chris Mueller; Hugo Cuypers
Columbus Crew Predicted XI (3-4-3): Patrick Schulte; Steven Moreira, Rudy Camacho; Evgen Cheberko, Max Arfsten, Yaw Yeboah, Aidan Morris; Darlington Nagbe, Diego Rossi, Alexandru Matan, Christian Ramirez
Chicago Fire vs Columbus Crew Prediction
Columbus Crew will be licking their lips as they take on a floundering Chicago Fire side who have stumbled into the new campaign. The Crew have been rock-solid away from home and we are backing them to claim a fourth straight win over Klopas’ men.
Prediction: Chicago Fire 1-3 Columbus Crew
