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Chicago Fire host Toronto in a friendly at Soldier Field on Saturday. Both sides will be looking to win the game to build momentum before the MLS season commences.
Chicago finished 22nd in the Eastern Conference in the 2021-22 campaign, failing to qualify for the playoffs for their fourth consecutive season. Ezra Hendrickson's side will finally be looking to qualify for the playoffs following their strong transfer window.
Toronto also failed to qualify for the playoffs, finishing 13th in the Eastern Conference. Bob Bradley's side, however, did get to the quarter-finals of the 2021 CONCACAF Champions League before being knocked out by Cruz Azul. They will hope to build momentum with a win against Chicago ahead of the MLS season.
Both sides will want to win the game in order to have a strong pre-season and that should make for an interesting matchup.
Chicago Fire vs Toronto Head-to-Head
Toronto have dominated the recent head-to-head record between the two sides and are unbeaten against Chicago in their last five meetings, winning three of them.
Toronto came away as 3-1 winners the last time the two sides met back in October 2021. Goals from Marco Delgado, Omar Gonzalez and Yeferson Soteldo were enough to secure all three points on the night after Robert Beric opened the scoring for Chicago.
Chicago Fire Form Guide: n/a
Toronto Form Guide: n/a
Chicago Fire vs Toronto Team News
Chicago Fire
Ezra Hendrickson will have a full strength side to choose from for the game on Saturday. New signing Xherdan Shaqiri could make his first start for the club.
Injured: None
Doubtful: None
Suspended: None
Toronto
Ralph Priso and Ayo Akinola are both still unavailable for the game. Apart from that, Toronto have no new injury worries.
Injured: Ralph Priso, Ayo Akinola
Doubtful: None
Suspended: None
Chicago Fire vs Toronto Predicted XI
Chicago Fire Predicted XI (3-5-1-1): Gabriel Slonina; John Espinoza, Mauricio Pineda, Jonathan Bornstein; Miguel Navarro, Federico Navarro, Brian Gutierrez, Alvaro Medran, Wyatt Omsberg; Xherdan Shaqiri; Robert Beric\
Toronto Predicted XI (4-2-3-1): Alexander Bono; Justin Morrow, Eriq Zavaleta, Omar Gonzalez, Auro; Michael Bradley, Noble Okello; Jacob Shaffelburg, Alejandro Pozuelo, Tsubasa Endoh; Patrick Mullins
Chicago Fire vs Toronto Prediction
Both sides are fairly similar in terms of quality and that should come to the fore during the game on Saturday.
We predict a tight game with neither side coming out on top in a draw.
Prediction: Chicago Fire 1-1 Toronto
