Courtesy of the Fire
Continuity was supposed to bring success for the Fire. Two games into the season, the most prominent aspects to carry over have been negative.
Entering Saturday’s match at the New York Red Bulls, the Fire have allowed five goals in two games, and the back line has looked leaky like it did in 2020. They had a prime chance to win their opener but turned a 2-0 lead into a 2-2 draw with the New England Revolution, carrying over another trend of wasting leads and not finishing off matches.
So far, the opening two matches have looked like games 24 and 25 of the 2020 season, not a new beginning in 2021. There have been positives such as the emergence of midfielder Luka Stojanovic after a knee injury wrecked his 2020 season and the attacking presence of right back Boris Sekulic following an underwhelming debut last year, but on balance the season is off to a familiar start.
Atlanta United vs. Chicago Fire: Gameday Guide and How to Watch
Can Chicago win a road match for the first time since 2019?
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But the biggest storyline heading into the match has to be this: Can the Fire finally pick up a win on the road? The last time Chicago won a true road match a 5-2 season ending win against Orlando City in 2019 Bastian Schweinsteiger was playing his last game as a pro.
Atlanta’s normally incredible crowd will be throttled to only 50 percent capacity because of the pandemic, but even so, that’s still an intimidating environment to break that winless streak. To do it, the Fire will need big performances from their midfield trio of Giménez, Álvaro Medrán, and Luka Stojanović.