Match Preview: Chicago Fire vs Toronto FC

Toronto FC travel to Chicago on Saturday night, to take on the Fire at Toyota Park, in a crucial encounter for both teams. It’ll be the third time in league competition that the teams have met this season, with both previous affairs ending in draws. The last time Chicago and Toronto played was only 3 weeks ago, when former Toronto FC striker, Quincy Amarikwa, scored a crucial goal at the depth to break hearts at BMO Field. August 23rd wasn’t very long ago, but things have drastically changed for Toronto FC since then.

In three matches since the draw against the Fire, Toronto FC have failed to earn a single point and have dramatically fallen down the Eastern Conference table. The team currently find themselves outside of a playoff spot in 7th place, and are desperate to get themselves back on the right track. However, it hasn’t been an easy couple of weeks for the team who saw their head coach fired after an embarrassing 3-0 loss to New England, and have had to deal with consistent rumours that their star striker, Jermain Defoe, no longer wants to play in Major League Soccer.

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Toronto made headlines across the league this winter when they signed the likes of the aforementioned Defoe, as well as,Michael Bradley, Julio Cesar, and Gilberto. The club who are currently in their eighth season of play, are on their ninth head coach in franchise history, and have never played a single match in Major League Soccer’s postseason. This season was supposed to be different though, with the club assembling the most expensive MLS roster in league history. It was Toronto’s attempt to right the wrongdoings of their past and make it up to the club’s most passionate fans. They sold out of the allocated 17000 season tickets, and BMO Field have had announced sell outs of 22, 591 all season long. Somewhere things took a wrong turn though and Toronto FC find themselves scrambling in the final stretch. New head coach. Greg Vanney, may have only been hired less than two weeks ago, but he’ll have to get Toronto playing well enough to make the playoffs if he has any plans on keeping his job for the start of next season.

Despite their poor position in the standings, Chicago has not been a terrible team this season and are far from an easy victory for any club. They sit in ninth place and are currently seven points out of a playoff spot, but have the most draws in the league with fourteen. They also have four fewer losses than Toronto does this year. They will be looking to bounce back from a 2-1 away loss to New England last weekend, and will be hoping to take advantage of a Toronto team that is in complete disarray at the moment.

Toronto will likely be without their captain and pillar at the back, Steven Caldwell, yet again. The team’s back four has looked shaky at the best of times without Caldwell in the lineup. Although he may not draw the international attention that Defoe does, Caldwell’s absence has effected the club even more than his teammate’s.

Along with Caldwell, Justin Morrow is also a doubt for Toronto, who has been ravaged by injuries at the back in recent weeks. New head coach, Greg Vanney, is still searching for his first win as a head coach in Major League Soccer, but does not have much time to get his team back into a playoff spot.

Chicago brought in experienced striker, Robert Earnshaw, in the middle of August, and he has wasted no time in making an impact at his new club. Much like Amarikwa, Earnshaw also scored against his old team at BMO Field the last time these two teams met. It was Earnshaw’s first game back in the league and it only took him five minutes after coming off of the bench to find the back of the net. He did much of the same the following week, when he scored in the 83rd minute, to help the Fire beat FC Dallas 1-0. Earnshaw has only made two appearances for Chicago since signing for them, but already has two goals, and will be eager to add to his tally Saturday night.

It will be an important match for both teams, but Toronto FC are definitely feeling the pressure more. Before the season even began, the team had been promising their fans that the club would make the playoffs, and for a while it looked like a sure thing. However, Toronto has been anything but stellar as of late, and they will need to find their early season form if they have any chance of getting themselves back into the playoff picture. It’ll be an intense game at Toyota Park on Saturday night, and one that all fans of Chicago or Toronto should be eagerly anticipating.

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