The Impact returns on the road this weekend for a game at Toyota Park against the Chicago Fire, this Saturday at 5pm EDT (TVA Sports 2 [pregame show at 4:30pm], 98,5fm & TSN Radio 690 [pregame show at 4pm]). Here are 10 things to know about the opponent before the sixth game of the season.
Context
They haven’t exactly lit up MLS thus far, but the Fire (1-1-3, 6 pts) took comfort in their latest results. The team has kept three straight clean sheets in a win and two ties, the most recent coming at Yankee Stadium against NYCFC (0-0). The previous game between these two teams, on March 6 at Toyota Park, had been a 4-3 defeat…
Current form (including 2015 Regular Season)
L-L-T-T-W-T
Head coach
Veljko Paunovic (1-1-3 all-time as Chicago Fire head coach) became the team's head coach on November 24, 2015, after leading Serbia to a U20 World Cup title last June. The Fire job is Paunovic’s very first at club level, but the Serbian coach did get acquainted with MLS in 2011, when he played 17 games for the Philadelphia Union before retiring. Pauno has been tasked with making the Fire a ball-playing and proactive team – but mostly, he has to bring results: the club has only made the MLS Cup Playoffs once in the past six seasons.
Current top scorer
David Accam and Kennedy Igboananike (2)
Players to watch
1. Kennedy Igboananike (#77) – Here’s someone who bullied the Impact last May. Whether Igboananike plays down the middle or on the left, his pace can be vicious.
2. Matt Polster (#2) – If Paunovic is to get his team to build play out of the back, Polster looks set to become that first outlet in front of the backline.
3. Johan Kappelhof (#4) – A product of the famous Ajax youth system, Kappelhof already acts as a leader at the heart of the Fire defence, five games into his MLS career.
Team profile
After a wild season opener, the Fire has showcased its defensive principles. With the block remaining quite low, the forwards’ pace, especially on the left with Accam and Igboananike, allows the Fire to exploit disorganized defences. It is thus not an accident that the Fire has scored due to an opposition defensive line sitting too high (against NYCFC), a long ball in the general direction of Accam (against Orlando) or through build-up play down the left (against Philadelphia). But the Fire does have a couple of options that should help the group play more of a ball-playing approach as the season progresses, especially in central midfield with the likes of Polster, Goossens and Stephens. Up top, Cocis and Gilberto have also shown an ability to combine quickly when the Fire recovers the ball high up the field, although this hasn’t led to great results.
Tactical formation
Veljko Paunovic has scrambled his deck, switching between a three- or four-man backline and a one- or two-man frontline. Lineup v. NYCFC (April 10): Lampson; Ramos, Kappelhof, Campbell, Harrington; Stephens, Polster; Alvarez, Cocis, Igboananike; Gilberto.
Against the Impact last season
The three games between these two teams last season stirred the full range of emotions within the Montreal fanbase. There was rage at first, on May 30, when a 10-man Impact lost 3-0 in Chicago. Then, there was euphoria on September 5: on his first start, Didier Drogba scored a hat-trick in a crazy 4-3 win. Then, there was anxiety on September 23 at the Impact let slip a 1-0 lead (Drogba had scored, again) early in the second half before Andrés Romero tallied the late winner, 14 minutes from full time.
Injuries (as of April 6)
F David Accam (knee sprain – back to light training)
GK Sean Johnson (right wrist sprain)
Next games
Chicago Fire v. DC United (MLS, April 30)
Vancouver Whitecaps FC v. Chicago Fire (MLS, May 11)
New England Revolution v. Chicago Fire (MLS, May 14)
