Revolution, Fire clash in matchup of slow-starting teams

Having tied in each of their previous six meetings, the Chicago Fire and New England Revolution face off at Soldier Field on Saturday night.

The Fire (2-4-4, 10 points) enter Saturday's match sitting in 12th place in the Eastern Conference standings, three points back of seventh and eighth place. Chicago's last win came April 6 against the Houston Dynamo. That was also the last time the Fire scored a goal as they have gone 0-1-2 since the victory.

Chicago is tied for the second-worst goal differential in the Eastern Conference this year at minus-7. One of the few bright spots for the Fire in 2024 has been 20-year-old goalkeeper Chris Brady, who has kept a clean sheet in two of his previous three appearances.

"I was thankful enough to keep an open mind about the position of goalkeeping when I was a kid and thankfully it developed into what I am now," said Brady, who played primarily at center back in his youth. "But I think if you keep that mindset of that continuous grind, that continuous work, you'll find yourself in some really good spots wherever that may be."

The Revolution (1-7-1, 4 points) are tied with the San Jose Earthquakes for the fewest number of points in the league, and their minus-12 goal differential is the worst in MLS this season.

New England's lone win this campaign was a 1-0 victory over Charlotte FC on April 6. Since then, the Revolution have lost three straight MLS matches by a combined tally of 7-1. Last week, New England was overpowered by first-place Inter Miami, 4-1 thanks to a brace from Lionel Messi.

"(We need to) continue to execute," New England head coach Caleb Porter said this week. "If we get consistent execution, I do believe that we'll finish and score the goals. So, we have to keep focusing on executing and then the game. Our sport is always going to come down to who can finish their chances."

Carles Gil leads the Revolution with three goals.