Chicago Fire are set to maintain their unbeaten start to the season as they host Sporting Kansas in the MLS on Saturday. The visitors have not had the best start to the campaign and are likely to find things difficult in Chicago.
Chicago Fire head into Saturday’s clash off the back of a 2-0 victory at DC United in their previous MLS fixture. Stanislav Ivanov opened the scoring while Jonathan Bornstein added the second 19 minutes from time.
That was the first win of the season for Chicago Fire, although they are unbeaten after kicking off their campaign with successive 0-0 draws with Inter Miami and Orlando City. Having finally got off the mark this term, Ezra Hendrickson’s men will look to build on the result at DC United as they target their first home win of the season.
Among the positives for Chicago Fire this season is their defensive solidity as they are yet to concede a single goal after three matches.
Sporting Kansas appear to be struggling to find their feet this term and have claimed just one win from their three matches. That win was a hard fought 1-0 home victory over Houston Dynamo in week two of the season.
Peter Vermes’ men have lost their other two matches this season, falling 3-1 to Atlanta United before suffering a 2-0 defeat at Colorado Rapids in their previous fixture. Their poor form extends to the final weeks of last season as they have lost six of their last eight MLS matches.
Another problem that appears to have persisted from last season is Sporting Kansas’ poor record on their travels. Aside from losing their two away matches this season, they have also been beaten five times in their last six fixtures on the road, a run stretching back to last term.
How the bookies view it
Chicago Fire have the upper hand among the bookies with a home win priced at 13/12 by SBK. William Hill is offering odds of 12/5 for a Sporting Kansas victory while a draw is set at odds of 5/2 with Paddy Power.
Head to head
Chicago Fire have a 27-19 advantage with 12 draws from 59 previous matches with Sporting Kansas. However, Sporting claimed a 2-0 victory in the last meeting between both teams back in September.
Players to watch
Chicago Fire’s defence has been perfect this season, keeping clean sheets in all three of their matches. Wyatt Omsberg and Rafael Czichos are the preferred centre-back pairing and can lead the hosts to another clean sheet at 2/1 with bet365.
At the other end of the pitch, Stanislav Ivanov got off the mark last time out and could be worth keeping an eye on for Chicago Fire. The Bulgarian striker is priced at 7/2 with bet365 to get on the score sheet on Saturday.
Anything else catch the eye?
Chicago Fire have kept clean sheets in all three of their matches and with Sporting Kansas failing to score in their previous fixture, BTTS NO could be considered at 5/4 with BetVictor. The hosts can also be tipped to claim a second consecutive win to nil at 11/4 with betfair.
After getting a couple of goals last time out at DC United, Chicago Fire could also be tipped as the only team to score on Saturday at 11/4 with bet365.
This MLS match between Chicago Fire and Sporting Kansas will be played on Mar 19, 2022 and kick off at 22:00. Check below for our tipsters best Chicago Fire vs Sporting Kansas prediction. You may also visit our dedicated betting previews section for the most up to date previews.
