Chicago City Wire

Chicago Fire FC will travel to Chester, Pennsylvania, to face Philadelphia Union on Saturday, August 23. The match comes as Chicago maintains a five-game unbeaten streak, including a recent 3-2 comeback win over St. Louis CITY SC at SeatGeek Stadium. In that game, Hugo Cuypers opened the scoring for Chicago before St. Louis responded with two goals early in the second half. Philip Zinckernagel equalized in the 67th minute, and Brian Gutiérrez scored the game-winner late in regulation.

Philadelphia Union returns home after splitting results with New York Red Bulls last week. They advanced to the semifinals of the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup with a 3-2 victory but lost 1-0 to New York three days later in league play, ending their six-game unbeaten run across all competitions and dropping them from first place in the Supporters’ Shield standings.

This weekend’s contest marks the second meeting between Chicago and Philadelphia this season; Philadelphia won the previous encounter 1-0 at Soldier Field on June 25. Historically, Philadelphia leads the regular season series with 15 wins to Chicago’s 11, along with nine draws.

Chicago could debut new signings André Franco and Joel Waterman against Philadelphia. Franco is expected to bolster midfield options while Waterman’s participation depends on his P-1 visa clearance after transferring from CF Montréal.

The Fire remain one of Major League Soccer’s most productive attacking teams on the road this season. Philip Zinckernagel has contributed to 16 goals away from home—second-best in MLS—and Hugo Cuypers is fourth overall with 15 goals scored this year. A win would tie Chicago's club record for most road victories in a single season.

Defender Jack Elliott will also return to Subaru Park for his second appearance against his former club since joining Chicago Fire FC. “Elliott did not let his former teammates get the best of him that day, keeping the Union scoreless from the run of play and being rated one of the best players on the field for either side for his performance,” according to team communications.

Zinckernagel ranks third in goal contributions above expectation per Hudl Statsbomb data, trailing only Cincinnati’s Evander and Miami’s Lionel Messi this year.

Chicago’s current unbeaten stretch is its second such streak of five games or more this season—the first time they have managed multiple runs like this since 2022. Another positive result would give them their longest undefeated spell since an eleven-game run in 2017.

Hugo Cuypers’ tally of fifteen goals ties him for third-most by a Fire player in a single season and places him eighth all-time among club scorers across two seasons.

The match is scheduled for a 6:30 p.m. CT kickoff at Subaru Park and will be available globally via MLS Season Pass on Apple TV as well as local radio broadcasts.

“Elliott did not let his formerteammates get the best of him that day, keeping the Union scoreless from the run of play and being rated one of the best players on the field for either side for his performance.”