Sporting Kansas City at Chicago Fire
Wednesday, July 13 — 7:30 p.m. CT
Toyota Park | Bridgeview, Illinois
Broadcast Schedule:
English TV | KMCI 38 The Spot, SKCTV
English Radio | 99.3 FM
Spanish Radio | La Grande 1340 AM
Game Notes | Uphoria App | Social Media
Game On | Media Guide | MatchCenter | By The Numbers
Sporting Kansas City rekindles a long-time rivalry Wednesday as the club visits Toyota Park for an interconference battle against the Chicago Fire. The midweek match features a pair of teams headed in opposite directions, with Sporting Kansas City (8-8-4, 28 points) unbeaten in five league games and Chicago (3-8-5, 14 points) sitting at the bottom of the Eastern Conference.
Wednesday's contest is set to kick off at 7:30 p.m. CT with three hours of live television coverage beginning at 7 p.m. on 38 The Spot and SKCTV. Listens can also follow the action live on 99.3 FM and La Grande 1340 AM. In-game updates will be available online at SportingKC.com/gameon, on Twitter via @SKCGameday and through the club’s official mobile app Sporting KC Uphoria.
Sunday's 3-1 victory over New York City FC lifted Sporting Kansas City to the .500 mark for the first time since early May. Benny Feilhaber netted his third goal in four league games, Jimmy Medranda opened his MLS scoring account and Ike Opara tallied his first of the season as Sporting KC solidified fifth place in the Western Conference. After claiming just one win in 11 games from April 13 to June 2, Manager Peter Vermes' men have caught fire over the last three weeks. Sporting KC is 3-0-1 since the regular season resumed June 18 after the Copa America break, the best mark in MLS.
Looking to climb out of the Eastern Conference basement, Chicago is coming off a 1-0 defeat at Toronto FC on Saturday. Despite their position in the table, the Fire have just one loss in their last seven home matches (3-1-3) and are unbeaten in four straight at Toyota Park. First-year head coach Veljko Paunovic guides a team that has shown competitiveness throughout the season, as all but two of Chicago's 16 matches have been decided by a goal or less. The Fire have also enjoyed recent home success against Sporting Kansas City, collecting wins in four of the last five meetings at Toyota Park.
Forwards Kennedy Igboananike and David Accam have netted four goals apiece, combining for more than half of Chicago's scoring haul this year (15 goals). Newly acquired Dutch striker Michael de Leeuw made his MLS debut Saturday and is expected to bolster the Fire attack after scoring more than 100 goals over the last six years in the Netherlands.
Sporting Kansas City's once-stuttering offense has burst to life during the current unbeaten run. The club has 10 goals in its last four games and will welcome back leading scorer Dom Dwyer, who returns from his one-game suspension for caution accumulation. The English striker could make his 100th regular season appearance Wednesday, having scored in three of his last four appearances against Chicago.
No team has handed Sporting Kansas City more regular season defeats than the Fire, who own a 25-14-11 edge in the series. Kansas City's 4-17-2 road record in Chicago is their worst against any MLS club besides Orlando City SC (0-1-0). Vermes' side has won each of the last two encounters, however, including a 1-0 decision settled by Paulo Nagamura's game-winner when the teams last met in May 2015 at Children's Mercy Park.
Chicago enters the matchup without any injury concerns, having received a boost when standout midfielder Matt Polster was declared fit at the start of the week. On the opposite sideline, Sporting Kansas City's Chance Myers (hamstring), Paulo Nagmaura (thigh) and Graham Zusi (hamstring) are listed as questionable. Zusi was excellent in his team's 3-2 win over Columbus Crew SC on July 3 but pulled his hamstring during pregame warmups on Sunday.
