Commerce City, Colo.- The Rapids return home to take on the Fire Saturday evening in an all-important final home match.
Colorado has the chance to clinch playoffs and gain more clinical playoff points after drawing with San Jose away on Wednesday.
Chicago enters the match 4th in the east, also looking to lock up an effective playoff position.
Burgundy Wave caught up with Alex Calabrese from Men in Red 97 Media to get prepared for the match.
How do you expect Chicago to tactically approach this game, being 4th in the East and still having plenty to play for?
Alex Calabrese: Every game is important at this point as they can’t really afford to slip up and lose control of 4th place.
With most of the team being healthy now, I don’t think Gregg Berhalter will reinvent the wheel, he’s more or less been taking the same approach in recent games with an emphasis being on controlling games for long periods of time. Cleaning up preventable goals is the main thing the Fire must do to strengthen their postseason aspirations.
Who are some danger men to look out for, and how do you expect them to impact the match?
AC: Jonathan Bamba has been in great form lately and even if his top-line numbers haven’t been super productive, he has been a persistent threat on the left side and is coming off of his best game since the World Cup.
Maren Haile-Selassie has had the best season of his career and forced himself into the starting lineup, albeit as an attacking midfielder rather than his natural position of winger.
Then there’s Robert Lewandowski, who is of course the most famous player in the squad; he has had a prolonged dry spell in front of goal but is capable of waking up at any moment.
Colorado and Chicago don’t play as often; how do you view this match up and some of the storylines?
AC: I am excited for this one, it feels like it has been a very long time since we’ve seen these teams play! For the Fire it’s a great chance to match up with an unfamiliar opponent, and the altitude should provide an extra test heading into what could be a grueling playoff run.
The biggest story is, can the Fire go into the postseason as the best version of themselves? These last two games against Colorado and Columbus will determine that.
Score prediction?
AC: Bamba playing well is optimistic for the Fire’s chances, and Lewandowski is long overdue. I think they escape with a 2-1 win.
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