FC Cincinnati continue their work on the road with a trip to The Windy City this weekend to take on Chicago Fire FC and look to keep their winning streak alive. After a gritty defensive performance last weekend in D.C., where FCC kept a clean sheet and won 1-0, The Orange and Blue are looking to keep that kind of play going as they visit one of the top goal-scoring teams in MLS this season.
While owners of a 3-2-3 record, under new Head Coach Gregg Berhalter, the Chicago Fire are second in goals scored this season with 14 scored in their eight matches.
"Gregg's done a really good job. You can see ideas, you know, evolving, getting better. The results, obviously, you know, have been pretty good if you're talking about a new coach with a bunch of new players," FC Cincinnati Head Coach Pat Noonan said of their weekend opponent on Thursday. "The winger play, with [Hugo] Cuypers central, I think they've been pretty consistent as far as those three working together and being very dangerous… So we have to be prepared for a variety of ways that the front three will apply pressure, how the central players are pressing the ball. So that'll be a good challenge."
Trips to Chicago have typically been fortuitous for FCC, as the club is 4-1-1 all-time when playing in Chicago and have won each of their last four matches when playing away to The Fire. In fact, FC Cincinnati is undefeated against Chicago in The Windy City when fans are present, with the lone loss coming during the Covid 2020 season.
For FCC, however, as the club continues to get healthier and more connected, the focus remains on themselves, and improving is a priority. So, while they will plan and focus on Chicago this weekend, a particular eye on how they can't be better as a group will be shown.
"Every game in this league is difficult; it presents different challenges. They obviously have a lot of new players, and you coach, so I'm sure they're going to be hungry to kind of change their script in the last few years of their seasons," Matt Miazga said Thursday ahead of the match in his own session. "We're focused on ourselves. I think the most important thing is to focus on ourselves and make sure that we know our game plan, we know our philosophy, we know our standards, and we have to make sure that we bring in every game and a good opportunity on Saturday again."
After starting the 2025 season on the road with two losses, FCC have bounced back to win their previous two road matches and level their record away from TQL Stadium to 2-2-0. With a victory and other MLS results falling FCC's way, The Orange and Blue could go top of the table in the Eastern Conference by the end of the night on Saturday.
FC CINCINNATI vs Chicago Fire FC – Saturday, April 19, 2025 – 8:30 p.m. ET – Soldier Field
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Against Chicago Fire FC
FC Cincinnati travel to Chicago for the seventh time in MLS competition, and in no other road city have the Orange and Blue seen greater success. FCC’s 4-1-1 road record in Chicago and 13 of 18 possible points earned is the club’s best win percentage (.750) at any MLS club. Only Toronto FC (4-2-0) have FCC also won four times at. The Orange and Blue’s only loss at Chicago came in the 2020 Covid season with no fans in attendance at Soldier Field.
FC CINCINNATI NOTES
Tale of two halves – While FC Cincinnati have conceded the third-fewest first-half goals this season (3), Chicago Fire FC have scored the second-most first-half goals in 2025 (8).
On the flip side, the Orange and Blue have scored just 2 goals in the first half this season - second-fewest in MLS - the Fire have allowed 8 goals in the opening 45 this season, tied for
the third-most in MLS this season.
They call that a win streak – Following three straight wins at Nashville SC (2-1), over the New England Revolution (1-0) and against D.C. United (1-0), FC Cincinnati are 32-8 (.795) in MLS matches decided by one goal since the start of the 2023 season. No other club has as many as 20 one-goal wins in that same time frame. FC Cincinnati and the Columbus Crew (Both 4-0-0 in one-goal games) are the only teams in 2025 with a perfect win percentage in one-goal games this season with at least four wins in such games.
SCOUTING Chicago Fire FC (3-2-3, 12 Points, 12th in Eastern Conference)
Backed by their new Head Coach and a small collection of new players, the Chicago Fire are one of the breakout teams in Major League Soccer this season with three wins early in the 2025 campaign. That being said, while The Fire have those three wins, they enter this game on a three-game winless streak after draws with Miami and Montreal; bookending a loss to the New York Red Bulls.
This offseason, Chicago made waves in the coaching space by hiring Gregg Berhalther, the famed former US Men’s National Team coach who had stepped away from his national team duties earlier last summer. Berhalther, 51, had previously managed in MLS as the leader of Columbus Crew from 2013 to 2018 before taking over the USMNT and was, in fact, the manager of the Crew when FC Cincinnati defeated the Crew in the 2017 US Open Cup when The Orange and Blue played in USL. Now, the two meet again at the club that FC Cincinnati defeated just one round later in that very same tournament.
In 2024, Chicago Fire finished bottom in the Eastern Conference and second to last in the overall table – prompting the coaching chance and a reimagining of the roster. Berhalter not only took over the Head Coaching duties but also Sporting Director ones and went to work. The Fire moved on from noted Designated Player Xander Shaquiri and retooled the roster with depth and power upfront to augment some of the roster pieces in place.
Veteran MLS defender Jack Elliot was brought in from the Philadelphia Union on a free-agent contract to lead the defense. American defender Sam Rogers was brought in from Finish side Lillestrøm SK after graduating from the Seattle Sounders academy years earlier to aid in that effort. Similarly, on a U22 deal, fullback Leonardo Barroso was brought in to support that back line.
The flashy transfer signings of the window thus far have been upfront, though, as Chicago signed Ivory Coast winger Jonathan Bomba to a free-agent deal. Philip Zinckernagel was added from Belgian side Club Brugge as well.
In a 4-2-3-1 formation, those two wingers are intended to flank a pair of returning players, both of which have settled in well with their new teammates. Brian Gutiérrez, an American youth international at just 21 years old who recently made his senior team debut, plays between them in a more central attacking midfield space, and Hugo Cuypers leads the offense as the striker.
Cuypers, a Designated Player, has a lot in common with an FC Cincinnati star in Kévin Denkey. While Cuypers himself is a Belgian native, he, like Denkey, won the Belgian League top scorer award in the year before making a move to MLS. While playing for Gent in 2023 (a club that another FCC star, Yuya Kubo, played for), he scored 24 goals en route to his title. The following season, Denkey scored 28 to earn his.
Cuypers this season has scored five goals while Bamba has added 4 assists, Gutiérrez has also scored twice, while Zinckernagel has added five goal contributions with 2 goals and three assists. It has been the top of the lineup that has done the damage for Chicago Fire.
In net for the Fire is one of the youngest stars in MLS. Chris Brady, 21, a homegrown star from Naperville, Illinois, starts between the pipes for Chicago. It has done so consistently since the 2023 season. Making his debut for the club in 2022 at just 18, Brady has made 72 starts in his young career.
