FC Cincinnati vs Chicago Fire FC, MLS 2026 REGULAR SEASON
Overview
Match Preview
FC Cincinnati vs Chicago Fire FC — MLS at Nippert Stadium.
- FC Cincinnati 34 games · 46 pts (2026/26)
- Chicago Fire FC 34 games · 55 pts (2026/26)
Match Details
- Referee Sorin Stoica
- Referee M. de Oliveira
- Referee Peter Manikowski
- Referee Ismir Pekmic
- Referee
Standings
| # | Team | P | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Nashville SC | 34 | 77 |
| 2 | Internacional CF Miami | 34 | 60 |
| 3 | New England Revolution | 34 | 58 |
| 4 | Chicago Fire FC | 34 | 55 |
| 5 | Charlotte FC | 34 | 54 |
| 6 | Philadelphia Union | 34 | 50 |
| 7 | Columbus Crew SC | 34 | 47 |
| 8 | FC Cincinnati | 34 | 46 |
| 9 | Orlando City SC | 34 | 46 |
| 10 | New York City FC | 34 | 42 |
| 11 | New York Red Bulls | 34 | 42 |
| 12 | Toronto FC | 34 | 39 |
| 13 | Atlanta United FC | 34 | 33 |
| 14 | D.C. United SC | 34 | 33 |
| 15 | Montreal Impact FC | 34 | 26 |
| 16 | Vancouver Whitecaps FC | 34 | 64 |
| 17 | FC Dallas | 34 | 58 |
| 18 | St. Louis City | 34 | 54 |
| 19 | San Jose Earthquakes | 34 | 52 |
| 20 | Houston Dynamo | 34 | 51 |
| 21 | Los Angeles FC | 34 | 47 |
| 22 | Portland Timbers | 34 | 46 |
| 23 | Seattle Sounders FC | 34 | 46 |
| 24 | Real Salt Lake | 34 | 45 |
| 25 | Minnesota United FC | 34 | 44 |
| 26 | Los Angeles Galaxy | 34 | 44 |
| 27 | Colorado Rapids SC | 34 | 43 |
| 28 | San Diego FC | 34 | 38 |
| 29 | Austin FC | 34 | 34 |
| 30 | Sporting Kansas City | 34 | 26 |
Head-to-Head
Recent Form
| Date | Opponent | H/A | Score | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 02 Sep | Chicago Fire FC | H | 0–0 | D |
| 29 Aug | Columbus Crew SC | H | 0–0 | D |
| 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 |
| Date | Opponent | H/A | Score | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 02 Sep | FC Cincinnati | A | 0–0 | D |
| 29 Aug | New York City FC | A | 1–3 | L |
| 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 |
Season Stats
| FC Cincinnati | Chicago Fire FC | |
|---|---|---|
| #8 | Position | #4 |
| 46 | Points | 55 |
| 34 | Played | 34 |
| 12 / 10 / 12 | W / D / L | 16 / 7 / 11 |
| 67 | Scored | 64 |
| 75 | Conceded | 54 |
| -8 | GD | +10 |
| 1.35 | PPG | 1.62 |
| 35% | Win % | 47% |
Key Stats
63%
Both Teams to Score
H2H (16 games)
H2H (16 games)
69%
Over 2.5 Goals
H2H history
H2H history
18%
Clean Sheets
FC Cincinnati this season
FC Cincinnati this season
24%
Clean Sheets
Chicago Fire FC this season
Chicago Fire FC this season
FC Cincinnati are 8th (46 pts). Chicago Fire FC are 4th (55 pts).
Goal Timing (This Season)
FC Cincinnati
0-15
6/3
16-30
5/11
31-45
10/11
46-60
8/13
61-75
6/7
76+
17/9
■ Scored ■ Conceded
Chicago Fire FC
0-15
9/4
16-30
9/10
31-45
6/9
46-60
10/9
61-75
10/4
76+
6/10
■ Scored ■ Conceded
Top Scorers (This Season)
FC Cincinnati
| Kevin Denkey | 17 G | 2 A |
| Evander | 14 G | 13 A |
| Tom Barlow | 10 G | 4 A |
| Pavel Bucha | 6 G | 3 A |
Chicago Fire FC
| Maren Haile-Selassie | 13 G | 5 A |
| Hugo Cuypers | 12 G | |
| Hugo Cuypers | 11 G | |
| Robert Lewandowski | 9 G | 3 A |
| Philip Zinckernagel | 5 G | 4 A |
Events
Match Events
- 0' Packed stands, loud atmosphere — FC Cincinnati and Chicago Fire FC get this one started.
- 5' Matchday of the Array and both teams know exactly what is at stake tonight.
- 10' Jurgen Locadia has been relatively quiet despite scoring 13 goals in his last 343 appearances.
- 15' Przemyslaw Frankowski has been disciplined this evening — perhaps mindful of those 0 cards already picked up this season.
- 20' FC Cincinnati have won 374 goals from 259 games. They will be desperate to add to that tally today.
- 25' A moment of individual brilliance could settle this. Both teams are waiting for that decisive action.
- 30' While players are taking a pause, let’s have a look at their stats. The teams met 2 times this season with FC Cincinnati winning 50% of all matches.
- 35' FC Cincinnati is showing some good football. However, FC Cincinnati are ready to play back every minute. It might result in some problems for the home side. The game will hardly remain goalless.
- 40' Over 40 minutes have gone by without a meaningful attack. The supporters want more.
- 45' Supporters expect more eagerness from Alvaro Medran, as he is very good at scoring at Nippert Stadium with 0 goals in the last 0 games.
- 50' Mathieu Deplagne needs to be pretty careful with his discipline considering 0 Red cards this season.
- 55' It looks surprising FC Cincinnati does not make any changes. Joe Gyau has some obvious troubles when approaching to the goal.
- 60' The 27-year-old Djordje Mihailovic has been sensational this season — 2 goals and 3 assists is a remarkable return.
- 62' Fresh legs for Chicago Fire FC! Djordje Mihailovic comes on to replace Fabian Herbers.
- 63' Another substitution for FC Cincinnati to replace Siem de Jong by Yuya Kubo on 63 minute.
- 68' Frankie Amaya has certainly something to prove this evening. He made 29 appearances with only 0 goals this season.
- 70' Chicago Fire FC is taking the lead after the goal scored by Ignacio Aliseda on 70.
- 75' It’s high time Jaap Stam made some changes to put the his team’s game back to action.
- 76' A tactical swap from FC Cincinnati — Andrew Gutman on, Greg Garza off on 76 minutes.
- 81' FC Cincinnati are enjoying more possession but struggling to find a way through a disciplined Chicago Fire FC backline.
- 86' FC Cincinnati ring the changes. Haris Medunjanin has done his job and it is now time for Caleb Stanko to step up.
- 90' Wyatt Omsberg is ready to make an impact after coming on for Mauricio Pineda at the 90 minute mark.
- 90' Mathieu Deplagne has been a danger all night but risks an early exit having now seen a Yellow card on 90.
- 0-0 the final result. will be bitterly disappointed.
Lineups
FC Cincinnati Lineups
Starting XI
- 10
- 23
- 17
- 36
- 22
-
11
Siem de Jong ↓ Yuya Kubo 63'
-
6
Haris Medunjanin ↓ Caleb Stanko 86'
- 2
-
4
Greg Garza ↓ Andrew Gutman 76'
-
9
Adrien Regattin ↓ Allan Cruz 63'
- 24
Bench
-
33
Caleb Stanko ↑ 86'
-
7
Yuya Kubo ↑ 63'
- 14
-
8
Allan Cruz ↑ 63'
- 19
-
96
Andrew Gutman ↑ 76'
- 1
- 3
- 16
Coach
Jaap Stam
Chicago Fire FC Lineups
Starting XI
- 27
- 10
- 21
- 11
- 5
- 1
- 7
- 30
- 2
- 6
-
22
Mauricio Pineda ↓ Wyatt Omsberg 90'
Bench
- 24
- 13
-
14
Djordje Mihailovic ↑ 62'
- 16
-
20
Wyatt Omsberg ↑ 90'
-
28
Elliot Collier ↑ 62'
- 36
-
3
Jonathan Bornstein ↑ 62'
- 40
Coach
Raphaël Wicky
H2H
H2H Top Scorers
| Player | Goals |
|---|---|
| Evander | 7 |
| Hugo Cuypers | 5 |
| Luciano Acosta | 4 |
| Robert Beric | 3 |
| Jhon Duran | 3 |
| Brian Gutierrez | 3 |
| Kevin Denkey | 2 |
| Junior Moreno | 2 |
Head to Head
FC Cincinnati Form
Chicago Fire FC Form
2020-09-02
FC Cincinnati
0–0
Chicago Fire FC
D
2020-08-29
New York City FC
3–1
Chicago Fire FC
L
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
Predictions
Prediction accuracy
1 / 4
1.55
FC Cincinnati xG
Expected Goals
Dixon-Coles · Bivariate Poisson · Neg. Binomial · Elo
1.48
Chicago Fire FC xG
I would bet for:
FC Cincinnati or Chicago Fire FC 74% + Both teams to score 61%
Match Result
✗ WrongActual: Draw
Both Teams to Score
✗ Wrong
Avg goals/match: 3.03
Actual: No — clean sheet
Over / Under Goals
✗ O/U 2.5| Line | Over | Under | |
|---|---|---|---|
| ± 0.5 | 93% |
|
7% |
| ± 1.5 | 80% |
|
20% |
| ± 2.5 | 57% |
|
43% |
| ± 3.5 | 36% |
|
64% |
| ± 4.5 | 19% |
|
81% |
Double Chance
FC Cincinnati or Draw
67%
Draw or Chicago Fire FC
60%
FC Cincinnati or Chicago Fire FC
74%
Half-Time Result
✓ CorrectActual: Draw at HT
Correct Score
✓ In top 12
1 – 1
12%
2 – 1
8.3%
1 – 2
7.9%
1 – 0
6.6%
0 – 0
Actual
0 – 1
6.3%
2 – 2
6.1%
2 – 0
5.7%
0 – 2
5.3%
3 – 1
4.3%
1 – 3
3.9%
3 – 2
3.2%
Asian Handicap — FC Cincinnati
| Handicap | FC Cincinnati covers | Push | Chicago Fire FC covers |
|---|---|---|---|
| -2.5 | 8% | — | 92% |
| -2 | 8% | 12% | 81% |
| -1.5 | 19% | — | 81% |
| -1 | 19% | 19% | 62% |
| -0.5 | 38% | — | 62% |
| +0.5 | 65% | — | 35% |
| +1 | 65% | 18% | 17% |
| +1.5 | 83% | — | 17% |
| +2 | 83% | 11% | 7% |
| +2.5 | 93% | — | 7% |
Clean Sheet
FC Cincinnati keeps clean sheet
24%
✗
Chicago Fire FC keeps clean sheet
22%
✗
Predictions are statistical estimates based on season form, H2H history, and a Poisson model. Not financial advice.