Chicago Fire FC vs FC Cincinnati, MLS 2026 REGULAR SEASON
Overview
Match Preview
Chicago Fire FC vs FC Cincinnati — MLS at Soldier Field.
- Chicago Fire FC 17 games · 29 pts (2026/26)
- FC Cincinnati 18 games · 26 pts (2026/26)
Match Details
- Referee Peter Balciunas
- Referee Alex Chilowicz
- Referee Peter Manikowski
- Referee
- Referee
Standings
| # | Team | P | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Nashville SC | 18 | 40 |
| 2 | Internacional CF Miami | 18 | 38 |
| 3 | New England Revolution | 18 | 30 |
| 4 | Chicago Fire FC | 17 | 29 |
| 5 | New York City FC | 18 | 26 |
| 6 | FC Cincinnati | 18 | 26 |
| 7 | Charlotte FC | 18 | 25 |
| 8 | New York Red Bulls | 18 | 25 |
| 9 | D.C. United SC | 18 | 23 |
| 10 | Columbus Crew SC | 18 | 20 |
| 11 | Orlando City SC | 18 | 20 |
| 12 | Toronto FC | 18 | 17 |
| 13 | Philadelphia Union | 18 | 16 |
| 14 | Montreal Impact FC | 18 | 16 |
| 15 | Atlanta United FC | 18 | 12 |
| 16 | Vancouver Whitecaps FC | 17 | 34 |
| 17 | Los Angeles FC | 19 | 34 |
| 18 | San Jose Earthquakes | 18 | 33 |
| 19 | Houston Dynamo | 18 | 32 |
| 20 | FC Dallas | 18 | 27 |
| 21 | Real Salt Lake | 17 | 27 |
| 22 | St. Louis City | 18 | 26 |
| 23 | Portland Timbers | 18 | 24 |
| 24 | Seattle Sounders FC | 17 | 24 |
| 25 | Minnesota United FC | 18 | 24 |
| 26 | Colorado Rapids SC | 18 | 22 |
| 27 | Los Angeles Galaxy | 19 | 22 |
| 28 | San Diego FC | 18 | 21 |
| 29 | Austin FC | 18 | 17 |
| 30 | Sporting Kansas City | 18 | 14 |
Head-to-Head
Recent Form
| Date | Opponent | H/A | Score | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 25 Aug | FC Cincinnati | H | 3–0 | W |
| 20 Aug | Columbus Crew SC | A | 0–3 | L |
| 23 Jul | Vancouver Whitecaps FC | H | 0–2 | L |
| 20 Jul | San Jose Earthquakes | H | 0–2 | L |
| 14 Jul | Seattle Sounders FC | H | 2–1 | W |
| 07 Mar | New England Revolution | A | 1–1 | D |
| Date | Opponent | H/A | Score | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 25 Aug | Chicago Fire FC | A | 0–3 | L |
| 21 Aug | D.C. United SC | H | 0–0 | D |
| 29 Jul | Portland Timbers | A | 1–1 | D |
| 23 Jul | New York Red Bulls | H | 2–0 | W |
| 16 Jul | Atlanta United FC | A | 1–0 | W |
| 12 Jul | Columbus Crew SC | H | 0–4 | L |
Season Stats
| Chicago Fire FC | FC Cincinnati | |
|---|---|---|
| #4 | Position | #6 |
| 29 | Points | 26 |
| 17 | Played | 18 |
| 9 / 2 / 6 | W / D / L | 7 / 5 / 6 |
| 32 | Scored | 45 |
| 23 | Conceded | 44 |
| +9 | GD | +1 |
| 1.71 | PPG | 1.44 |
| 53% | Win % | 39% |
Key Stats
63%
Both Teams to Score
H2H (16 games)
H2H (16 games)
69%
Over 2.5 Goals
H2H history
H2H history
41%
Clean Sheets
Chicago Fire FC this season
Chicago Fire FC this season
21%
Clean Sheets
FC Cincinnati this season
FC Cincinnati this season
Chicago Fire FC are 4th (29 pts). FC Cincinnati are 6th (26 pts).
Goal Timing (This Season)
Chicago Fire FC
0-15
3/1
16-30
7/4
31-45
1/5
46-60
2/2
61-75
6/–
76+
2/4
■ Scored ■ Conceded
FC Cincinnati
0-15
3/2
16-30
4/7
31-45
9/5
46-60
4/7
61-75
2/1
76+
11/3
■ Scored ■ Conceded
Top Scorers (This Season)
Chicago Fire FC
| Hugo Cuypers | 11 G | |
| Philip Zinckernagel | 5 G | 4 A |
FC Cincinnati
| Evander | 10 G | 4 A |
| Kevin Denkey | 10 G | 1 A |
| Tom Barlow | 5 G |
Events
Match Events
- 0' In just a few seconds Soldier Field will turn into a battlefield for Chicago Fire FC and FC Cincinnati.
- 2' Fabian Herbers adds to his 0 season tally! Chicago Fire FC lead 1-0 — and this changes everything.
- 7' It is a cagey affair so far. Chicago Fire FC in their trying to find a way past FC Cincinnati's compact .
- 10' Alvaro Medran adds to his 0 season tally! Chicago Fire FC lead 2-0 — and this changes everything.
- 15' Yuya Kubo has been relatively quiet despite scoring 18 goals in his last 295 appearances.
- 20' The teams are not in a rush to score plenty of goals. It might look strange considering Chicago Fire FC that had 278 games and scored 398 goals.
- 25' The Array continues to deliver drama. Both Chicago Fire FC and FC Cincinnati are desperate not to drop points on matchday .
- 27' The FC Cincinnati manager makes a substitution. Allan Cruz departs to be replaced by Siem de Jong.
- 32' It looks surprising FC Cincinnati does not make any changes. Mathieu Deplagne has some obvious troubles when approaching to the goal.
- 36' It’s gonna be a Yellow card for Tom Pettersson.
- 41' With 0 assists to his name this season, Jurgen Locadia is clearly more than just a goal scorer for FC Cincinnati.
- 46' Chicago Fire FC are deployed in a today, looking to exploit space against FC Cincinnati's shape.
- 51' Chicago Fire FC are enjoying more possession but struggling to find a way through a disciplined FC Cincinnati backline.
- 56' The travelling FC Cincinnati supporters hardly appreciate their team being pressed down to the backline.
- 59' Chicago Fire FC make a change. Fabian Herbers trudges off to be replaced by Elliot Collier on 59 minutes.
- 61' That looks like a foul for a Yellow card for Alvaro Medran.
- 63' FC Cincinnati receives a Yellow card for a hard tackle on 63.
- 67' The deadlock is broken! Ignacio Aliseda gets on the scoresheet on 67 minutes.
- 72' We miss some good tackles and strikes. Is there anyone on the field to put the game back to action?
- 73' It is a substitution in Chicago Fire FC team. Ignacio Aliseda is replaced by Djordje Mihailovic on 73 minute.
- 74' A tactical swap from FC Cincinnati — Maikel van der Werff on, Tom Pettersson off on 74 minutes.
- 75' Fresh legs for FC Cincinnati! Brandon Vazquez comes on to replace Jurgen Locadia.
- 80' The clock is ticking and both teams know a goal could change everything at this point.
- 85' Chicago Fire FC started playing very sharply right from the kick off. However, it slowed down the tempo rapidly by 85.
- 88' Jonathan Bornstein has so much to prove this time. He replaces Przemyslaw Frankowski on 88 minute.
- With this win, Chicago Fire FC is likely to improve its situation in the overall team standings.
Lineups
Chicago Fire FC Lineups
Starting XI
-
27
Robert Beric ↓ Brian Gutierrez 88'
-
10
Alvaro Medran ↓ Brandt Bronico 73'
-
21
Fabian Herbers ↓ Elliot Collier 59'
- 11
- 5
- 1
- 7
- 30
- 2
- 6
- 22
Bench
- 24
-
13
Brandt Bronico ↑ 73'
-
14
Djordje Mihailovic ↑ 73'
- 16
- 20
-
28
Elliot Collier ↑ 59'
- 36
-
3
Jonathan Bornstein ↑ 88'
-
40
Brian Gutierrez ↑ 88'
Coach
Raphaël Wicky
FC Cincinnati Lineups
Starting XI
- 10
- 17
-
33
Caleb Stanko ↓ Adrien Regattin 59'
- 7
- 36
- 22
- 2
-
8
Allan Cruz ↓ Siem de Jong 27'
- 24
-
96
Andrew Gutman ↓ Greg Garza 74'
- 3
Bench
-
23
Maikel van der Werff ↑ 74'
-
11
Siem de Jong ↑ 27'
- 14
-
19
Brandon Vazquez ↑ 74'
-
4
Greg Garza ↑ 74'
-
9
Adrien Regattin ↑ 59'
- 26
- 1
- 16
Coach
Jaap Stam
H2H
H2H Top Scorers
| Player | Goals |
|---|---|
| Evander | 7 |
| Hugo Cuypers | 5 |
| Luciano Acosta | 4 |
| Brian Gutierrez | 3 |
| Robert Beric | 3 |
| Jhon Duran | 3 |
| Rafael Czichos | 2 |
| Ignacio Aliseda | 2 |
Head to Head
Chicago Fire FC Form
2020-08-25
Chicago Fire FC
3–0
FC Cincinnati
W
2020-08-20
Columbus Crew SC
3–0
Chicago Fire FC
L
2020-07-23
Chicago Fire FC
0–2
Vancouver Whitecaps FC
L
2020-07-20
Chicago Fire FC
0–2
San Jose Earthquakes
L
2020-07-14
Chicago Fire FC
2–1
Seattle Sounders FC
W
2020-03-07
New England Revolution
1–1
Chicago Fire FC
D
FC Cincinnati Form
Predictions
Prediction accuracy
3 / 4
2.4
Chicago Fire FC xG
Expected Goals
Dixon-Coles · Bivariate Poisson · Neg. Binomial · Elo
1.41
FC Cincinnati xG
I would bet for:
Over 2.5 goals 72% + Both teams to score 68%
Match Result
✓ CorrectActual: Chicago Fire FC win
Both Teams to Score
✗ Wrong
Avg goals/match: 3.81
Actual: No — clean sheet
Over / Under Goals
✓ O/U 2.5| Line | Over | Under | |
|---|---|---|---|
| ± 0.5 | 97% |
|
3% |
| ± 1.5 | 89% |
|
11% |
| ± 2.5 | 72% |
|
28% |
| ± 3.5 | 52% |
|
48% |
| ± 4.5 | 33% |
|
67% |
Double Chance
Chicago Fire FC or Draw
77%
Draw or FC Cincinnati
45%
Chicago Fire FC or FC Cincinnati
78%
Half-Time Result
✓ CorrectActual: Chicago Fire FC win at HT
Correct Score
✓ In top 12
2 – 1
8.7%
1 – 1
8.3%
3 – 1
6.9%
2 – 0
6.4%
2 – 2
6.1%
1 – 2
5.2%
3 – 0
Actual
1 – 0
4.9%
3 – 2
4.9%
4 – 1
4.2%
0 – 0
3.4%
4 – 0
3%
Asian Handicap — Chicago Fire FC
| Handicap | Chicago Fire FC covers | Push | FC Cincinnati covers |
|---|---|---|---|
| -2.5 | 21% | — | 79% |
| -2 | 21% | 17% | 62% |
| -1.5 | 38% | — | 62% |
| -1 | 38% | 20% | 42% |
| -0.5 | 58% | — | 42% |
| +0.5 | 79% | — | 21% |
| +1 | 79% | 12% | 9% |
| +1.5 | 91% | — | 9% |
| +2 | 91% | 6% | 3% |
| +2.5 | 97% | — | 3% |
Clean Sheet
Chicago Fire FC keeps clean sheet
25%
✗
FC Cincinnati keeps clean sheet
10%
✓
Predictions are statistical estimates based on season form, H2H history, and a Poisson model. Not financial advice.