- Chicago Fire have won four of their last five (D1, L0) and are in fine form.
- Seattle Sounders are in woeful form with just one win in ten (D1, L8).
- Seattle have won just once in five home games in all competitions.
Fire are flying, so Seattle’s home record has us worried
Chicago Fire should get some joy when they head to Seattle Sounders on Saturday in an MLS matchup that has the Rave Green as narrow favourites at 3/2, the Men in Red a close second at 37/25 and the draw third at 14/5. It seems a bit strange that Seattle are even the marginal favourites, but we suspect this will be a close game between two teams with very different strengths and styles of play.
Seattle coach Brian Schmetzer's side are high-tempo and direct when they get the ball, but can play a very structured possession game when they need to and then switch back to direct and fast breaks in transition. It's not easy to do and requires the team to win the second balls in the game, but when they do it can be devastating to opponents who are not used to this type of match.
Chicago Fire coach Gregg Berhalter is the opposite in that he is a possession player first and foremost, who likes his side to build up from the back and play a more structured game. However, Chicago also have the ability to shape shift when they are out of possession, pressing in numbers and changing the shape of their pressing lines, which should enable them to cope with Seattle's quick changes in tempo.
Cuypers can do real damage to Seattle defence
Fire are in great form, winning seven, drawing one and losing two of their last ten matches in all competitions, while Seattle are on a woeful run of one win, one draw and eight defeats over their past ten games. That's why we're backing Chicago in the draw no bet market and not the outright win side as the home side are still a force in their own back yard.
Seattle were beaten 2-0 by Vancouver Whitecaps at home, lost 2-0 to Austin FC at home and then were held to a 1-1 draw by FC Cincinnati away in their three games since the last international break. Chicago Fire have beaten Portland Timbers 2-1 at home, Orlando City SC 2-1 away and then held New York Red Bulls to a 0-0 away draw in their recent run of five matches. They are more than capable of scoring on the road and have done so 1.60 times a match while conceding 1.80 goals per game this season.
Seattle have conceded 11 goals in five home matches in all competitions, so there's definitely a chance for Cuypers to find the net again with Puso Dithejane adding three of his goals for Chicago to the tally in their past five matches. Chicago have the firepower to pull off a bit of an upset here and we'll be backing them to do just that.
