Preview: Chicago Fire vs D.C. United

The Chicago Fire will once again look to end their goal-scoring woes and secure some sort of result when they travel to play D.C. United for the first time in 2024.

There’s very little on the 2024 Chicago Fire’s resume (2-4-8, 10 points, 14th in Eastern Conference) that inspires hope for the current MLS season but a result on the road against a conference foe provides the proper setting to get things on track. The Fire would have to score to potentially snap their seven-match winless streak, one which has seen Chicago score two goals in over 630 minutes on the pitch.

It won’t be an easy task for Chicago against a D.C. side (4-5-5, 17 points, 9th in Eastern Conference) that is currently fifth in the conference with 20 goals scored. Chicago’s head coach Frank Klopas know’s it won’t be an easy task stopping Christian Benteke and the rest of D.C.’s attack.

"Obviously, he's a big key to everything they do,” said Klopas during his weekly media availability. “[They’re] a very direct team. A lot of crosses in the box. And obviously, he's a target player. I think it's not a team that looks to progress a lot through possession, especially from the back.

“I think the two players that play a key part in that in their back five, they get forward, it's [Aaron] Herrera on the right side and Pedro Santos, if he plays, on the left side. They help. They're pretty direct and then I think a lot has to do with if they can win second balls. And Herrera does a really good job getting forward and creating overloads on the right side. Comes inside, gets a lot of crosses and Benteke is a big target for them.

“So I think it's still a team that I think they press at certain moments, good in transition because the front three with [Jared] Stroud, [Ted] Ku-Dipietro, Benteke, they don't recover as much defensively, and once they win the ball there's always that threat where their ability to find Benteke and link up play with those guys, it's another area of concern for us in transition moments.”

Maren Haile-Selassie made his return to the Fire’s lineup in last weekend’s loss after missing the previous five matches with a leg injury. He spoke to On Tap Sports Net after training this week and was optimistic about his fitness going forward.

“Right now I'm feeling good,” said Haile-Selassie. “Obviously, it was an injury that took some time to heal and to prepare again to be matched fit. So yeah, in this process, we didn't want to take any risk of re-injury. So that's why we wanted to be cautious with that. So right now, I'm feeling good, obviously, you need games to go to 100%. But so far, I'm feeling very good. And hopefully, I can help the team."

It wasn’t easy for the Fire’s winger to sit and watch his side struggle for five games while he was in the midst of his cautious rehabilitation process.

“It's very tough because I'm not very used to injuries and even more, if you see the team struggling to get results and to perform, I feel like I could have helped on the pitch. So it's tough, to be patient but at the same time, it's also having to listen to my body and to the experts who know more about this injury than I do.”

The Fire have only scored a single goal against D.C. in their last three but the urgency for a result is high in Chicago’s locker room according to Haile-Selassie.

“Every game is very important in this league because you don't want to be in a position where you have to chase towards the end of the season. So we have to start as soon as possible. Of course, this is not going to be very, it's not going to be easy because especially up front they have some threats.”

Who: Chicago Fire vs D.C. United

Where: Audi Field, Washington, D.C.

When: May 25, 2024. 6:30 p.m. CT

How to watch: MLS Season Pass on Apple TV+

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