After losing 1-2 to New York Red Bulls, Oscar Pareja‘s Orlando City SC now fly north to face Eastern Conference strugglers Chicago Fire at Soldier Field.
The Lions’ first MLS visit to the Near South Side venue, this midweek clash will be another test of Orlando City SC‘s squad depth in the hectic mid-season schedule.
Chicago Fire’s 3-0 win over Atlanta United on Saturday was only Fire’s second victory of the season. Raphaël Wicky’s side would’ve gained huge confidence from this triumph.
With Ignacio Aliseda (x2) and Przemysław Frankowski scoring, this win propelled Fire into 12th in the East.
Going 1-2-7 before beating Atlanta United, it’s been a pretty miserable season for Chicago Fire thus far.
The Illinois side will hope the 3-0 victory over The Five Stripes was a turning point in their 2021 campaign.
As for Orlando City SC, a full week’s rest didn’t count for much against a determined and confident New York Red Bulls side.
The only side to defeat City this term, not once but twice, we couldn’t handle the Red Bulls press.
By no means a terrible performance against Red Bulls, it just wasn’t Orlando City SC‘s night against a fierce opponent.
When Chris Mueller equalised in the 59th minute, Orlando City SC deserved this after peppering the impressive Carlos Coronel’s goal.
Nevertheless, City never took full control of the game. As such, a threatening Red Bulls side made their hard work count in the 79th minute.
With Fábio sweeping home a smart Patryk Klimala assist, Red Bulls stole all three points late on.
It was a bitter pill, especially considering that Mauricio Pereyra had missed a first-half penalty to tie a 0-1 deficit.
A minor bump in the road in an otherwise fantastic season, Oscar Pareja will be rallying the troops ahead of hopefully bouncing back at Chicago Fire.
Chicago Fire vs Orlando City SC – 2015/20 head-to-head stats
Despite the convincing 4-1 scoreline, Orlando City SC were far from their best the last time they faced Chicago Fire in September 2020.
This was a simply crazy encounter that had it all at Exploria Stadium. Despite our flaws, a free-scoring Lions side still managed to win by a three-goal margin!
Hitting the woodwork, seeing two goals ruled out by VAR and missing one of two penalties, Chicago Fire will still be wondering how they lost game 4-1.
Fortunately, Chris Mueller, Nani, Júnior Urso and Benji Michel all brought their shooting boots to seal all three points in this memorable Eastern Conference clash.
Orlando City SC 4 Chicago Fire 1 – Highlights – September 19, 2020 (Credit: Chicago Fire FC)
Orlando City SC trail Chicago Fire by one victory in this super competitive game series.
With Fire holding FOUR victories to Orlando City SC‘s THREE, draws have been the most common result with FIVE so far.
Prior to 2020, both Chicago Fire and Orlando City SC were used to propping up the Eastern Conference.
However, City have been trending north under Oscar Pareja‘ whereas Fire are still yet to ignite under Raphaël Wicky.
This is despite the club’s infamous rebranding and relocation from Bridgeview back into Chicago at Soldier Field.
Here’s a crazy stat and one that may have gone under the radar for many Orlando City SC supporters.
Despite being Eastern Conference strugglers in recent seasons, Chicago Fire have been a real thorn in the Lions’ side.
Unbeaten in EIGHT of their last NINE head-to-heads with Orlando City SC, the aforementioned 4-1 victory over Fire was our first win over them in 810+ MLS minutes.
Prior to this win, our other two victories over Fire came way back in 2015 during Adrian Heath‘s tenure.
Orlando City SC 2 Chicago Fire 5 – Highlights – October 6, 2019 (Credit: Major League Soccer)
Chicago Fire form
Remarkably, EIGHT of Fire’s last NINE MLS fixtures have finished ‘to nil’.
The only exception was Chicago Fire’s dramatic 3-3 draw with Philadelphia Union on June 26.
With Chicago Fire winning twice and losing six times in this streak of eight ‘to nil’ games, only one side has usually been scoring in recent Fire fixtures.
Buoyed after their 3-0 victory over Atlanta United, the Men In Red will further look to stamp out the sloppy defending that has seen them concede 17 goals so far.
Chicago Fire 3 Atlanta United 0 – Highlights – July 3, 2021 (Credit: Atlanta United FC)
Orlando City SC form
It’s hard to level too much criticism at Orlando City SC who are enjoying a superb season so far.
Nevertheless, Oscar Pareja will want to improve upon this particular record on the road.
In FIVE away fixtures so far this season, the Lions have conceded the first goal on THREE occasions.
Surrendering the lead at Sporting Kansas City (1-1), New York Red Bulls (2-1) and Inter Miami (1-2), the Lions did fight to the end in every fixture however.
A positive trait, Orlando City SC rescued four points from losing positions in this streak, with Silvester van der Water almost snatching a draw at Red Bulls.
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Don’t forget, Chicago Fire vs Orlando City SC will be shown LIVE on FreeSports in the early hours of Thursday morning at 01:05 (GMT).
GOOD NEWS 🚨 | @ChicagoFire 🆚 @OrlandoCitySC is LIVE on @FreeSports_TV in the early hours of Thursday morning. 😁👍🏽📺⚽️
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— Orlando City UK (@Orlando_CityUK) July 4, 2021