Chicago

Fire M Schweinsteiger questionable vs. Red Bulls (Sep 09, 2017)

Published Sep. 8, 2017 8:23 p.m. ET

The Chicago Fire may be missing one of their biggest stars as they host the New York Red Bulls on Saturday.

Midfielder Bastian Schweinsteiger scored a game-winning goal in last Saturday's 1-0 victory over the Montreal Impact, then left the field with what he described as a tight quad.

Schweinsteiger underwent treatments through the week but was still listed as questionable for Saturday as the Fire (13-9-5, 44 points) hope to maintain their hold on third place in the Eastern Conference.

The fifth-place Red Bulls (12-10-4, 40 points) are also still chasing a playoff berth and a victory would help their postseason positioning.

The victory in Montreal snapped a four-game losing streak. Chicago, which for a time was in a chase for the Eastern Conference lead, is 2-6-1 over its last nine games.

"Very important result, it's been a long time since our last win," Fire coach Veljko Paunovic said. "We were looking for a game like this. On the road, when it's even more difficult, it helps to build spirit. Our job is now to work and keep our motivation high."

The Red Bulls had a man advantage for 53 minutes and a lead into the 74th minute before settling for a 2-2 tie last Saturday at FC Dallas. It was their second consecutive draw.

New York has improved its road fortunes since starting 1-6 away from home. The Red Bulls are 3-2 with a tie over their last six road contests.

"I think in general our team feels good playing on the road now, we have gotten results recently and our team is in a good way because of that," Jesse Marsch, the Red Bulls coach and former Fire star, said this week. "We know we are in for a really tough match, there is a lot of question marks as to who will be available for them so it does not make it the easiest to prepare for them."

Saturday's game features a reunion of Chicago midfielder Dax McCarty with his former Red Bulls teammates. The Fire acquired McCarthy in a January trade that included $400,000 in general allocation money.

Red Bulls are without midfielder Sean Davis, who was suspended for Saturday due to yellow card accumulation.

New York beat Chicago 2-1 in the season's only other meeting on April 29. The Fire lead the all-time series 26-17 with 11 ties.

Get more from Chicago Follow your favorites to get information about games, news and more

in this topic

Chicago

MLS