Chicago City Wire

Chicago returns to the lakefront for its first of two home games in July, hosting the Philadelphia Union at Soldier Field tonight. Beginning at 7:30 p.m. CT, the match will be broadcast globally on MLS Season Pass and transmitted locally on wlsam.com (English) and WRTO 1200 AM (Spanish).

Led by former Fire defender Jim Curtin, Philadelphia heads to Chicago looking to get back on track after suffering four consecutive losses in league play.

The Men in Red recently completed a three-game road stretch that saw the team travel to Toronto, Orlando, and Seattle. Most recently, the Club fell 2-1 to Seattle at Lumen Field and is looking to turn the tides against the Union. Winger Maren Haile-Selassie scored for the third straight match against the Sounders, joining forward Hugo Cuypers as the only two Fire players this season to score in three consecutive games.

Head Coach Frank Klopas made two changes to the lineup that faced Seattle Sounders FC on Saturday.

Fabian Herbers dons the captain’s armband against the Union, the team that selected him as the sixth overall pick of the 2016 MLS SuperDraft. It’s Herbers’ 18th start for Chicago this season and his 99th overall start for the Men in Red. He is one start away from becoming "the first German-born player to reach 100 starts with Chicago Fire FC."

Rafael Czichos starts for a second straight time after missing two games due to receiving his U.S. Green Card. It’s Czichos’ 18th start this season.

Hugo Cuypers starts his 21st game of 2024, making him "the only player to start every game for the Fire in the 2024 regular season." Cuypers leads "the team with seven goals and one assist."

Chris Brady starts for "the 20th time in the 2024 MLS regular season," having missed only one game due to international duty. With "51 career starts" to his name, Brady is "the fourth goalkeeper in Club history" to play "50 or more games for the Fire," joining Zach Thornton, Sean Johnson, and John Busch.

Kellyn Acosta returns to "the starting XI," earning his "18th start of 2024" for the Fire.

Wyatt Omsberg earns his first start of "the 2024 MLS regular season."

Jonathan Dean will start his sixth straight match for "the Fire" and eighth overall of 2024.

Allan Arigoni starts his “19th match” of “the season,” having started every game in which he has played for “the Fire.”

Arnaud Souquet starts his eight matches of “the 2024 MLS regular season” for “the Men in Red.”

Brian Gutiérrez starts his “17th MLS regular season match” of “2024.”

Maren Haile-Selassie starts for “the 13th time this season.” With his goal against Seattle, he joined Hugo Cuypers as “the two Fire players” who have scored in consecutive matches in “2024.”

Defenders Chase Gasper (leg), Andrew Gutman (leg), Tobias Salquist (leg), Carlos Terán (leg); midfielders Xherdan Shaqiri (national team) and Federico Navarro (leg) are unavailable for today’s match.

Available off-the-bench options include goalkeeper Spencer Richey; defender Diego Konincks; defender/midfielder Mauricio Pineda; midfielders Javier Casas Jr., Gastón Giménez, Chris Mueller and David Poreba; forwards Tom Barlow and Georgios Koutsias.

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