NWSL Fall Series Preview: Chicago Red Stars vs Washington Spirit

Get ready for an interesting NWSL match between Chicago Red Stars and Washington Spirit

It’s Deja Vu all over again. The NWSL Fall Series is structured around limited opponents for teams. The Chicago Red Stars’ pod includes Sky Blue FC and the Washington Spirit. So after facing both teams already, the Red Stars will be back in action against the Spirit once again on Saturday. This time, it’ll be at home in Bridgeview, although without fans home-field advantage is a bit null. Not much has changed since their last match two weeks ago, but let’s talk about what has.

First of all, the Chicago Red Stars will be getting quite a few players back from injury. Sarah Gorden started their last game against Sky Blue FC and both Arin Wright and Tierna Davidson were available off the bench. Depending on league rules, Savannah McCaskill may or may not be coming back after her suspension in the last game against Washington when she picked up two yellow cards in the first half. The only new major absence for either team is Morgan Gautrat, who picked up a knock during Chicago’s last game.

The Washington Spirit is vastly the same team that the Red Stars have faced already. The last game saw some solid goalkeeping and late heroics from their attack. Ashley Sanchez is still to be feared, as well as Crystal Thomas, a Chicago local who has the quality to start but instead is used as a super-sub for the club. Expect Washington to hold more possession.

Chicago Red Stars are all about consistency

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That being said about possession, the Chicago Red Stars don’t need it. Chicago has developed a much more consistent and dangerous counter-attack in both Fall Series games. While much of it is a basic route one to the fastest striker, it was still incredibly effective. The team’s speed in the attack will continue to cause problems for opponents and there should be no exception in this game.

Projected XI

Chicago Red Stars (4-3-3): Alyssa Naeher; Bianca St. Georges, Zoe Morse, Sarah Gorden, Zoey Goralski; Savannah McCaskill, Vanessa DiBernardo, Danielle Colaprico; Kealia Watt, Sarah Luebbert, Arin Wright

Washington Spirit (4-3-3): Aubrey Bledsoe; Natalie Jacobs, Paige Nielsen, Sam Staab, Brooke Hendrix; Megan Dougherty Howard, Bayley Feist, Dorian Bailey; Ashley Sanchez, Kumi Yokoyama, Ashley Hatch

How to Watch

Saturday, September 26th, 12:00 PM CDT; At SeatGeek Stadium in Bridgeview, IL, on CBS and online on Twitch (foreign markets only)