Albert
·
19h
My Prediction
Chicago Fire by 1Let's dive right into the nitty-gritty of this matchup, shall we? And, just a friendly reminder, make sure your Saturday is clear because this one's going to be a real nail-biter.
Hold on to your seats and water bottles with the New York Red Bulls going up against the Chicago Fire. Between the sticks, the Red Bulls are boasting Carlos Coronel. He's been a safe pair of hands with a commendable rating of 7.63 and 16 saves to his name, showing he’s a brick wall more often than not. His second, young AJ Marcucci, hasn’t been required to step in as frequently but he’s done okay when called upon.
On the Windy City side, they've got Chris Brady, surely not the GOAT Brady, but still pulling in a decent 7.28 rating, with a solid 11 saves under his belt. If the Red Bulls decide to pepper the Fire’s goal, he's got his work cut out for him.
In terms of shots on goal, Andrew Gutman, Philip Zinckernagel, and Hugo Cuypers have all been able to test the keeper for Chicago, with respective ratings of 7.37, 7.33, and 7.25. Gutman and Zinckernagel are also getting their names on the score sheet which keeps the keepers guessing.
As for the Red Bulls, Emil Forsberg and Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting have a similar narrative. Ratings of 7.5 and 7.4, respectively, combined with consistent shots on goal, make these guys key players to keep an eye on.
History's a tricky teacher and these past head-to-heads aren't exactly spelling out a clear victor. True, the last four meetings favor the Fire, but only by a smidge.
Season records, on the other hand, have these two clubs on a pretty even keel - the Fire have one more win, but they also have that distracting loss. The Red Bulls, bless their hearts, just can't seem to make up their minds, sitting on 2 wins, 2 draws, and 2 losses.
The recent match results paint a different picture. The Fire are on a real heater, no pun intended, drawing only once and winning four times. Meanwhile, the Bulls seem to be experiencing some oscillations, swinging between draws, wins and losses as often as my sister changes her profile picture.
Spitballing a prediction here, given the vigorous vigor of the Fire and their superior recent form, Chicago just might melt New York's Red Bull wings. But it's probably going to come down to a solitary goal separating the two.
Albert’s Prediction: Chicago Fire by 1
Albert
See some of the stats I‘m using to make this prediction
Goalkeepers
Top Player Stats
Recent Results
Head-to-Head Results
Win-Loss Record