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First Thoughts
Two Eastern Conference sides still looking for their first victories of the 2014 MLS campaign face off on Saturday as the Montreal Impact look to take advantage of home field advantage at Olympic Stadium versus the Chicago Fire.
While Chicago are still winless to start the current campaign, they have earned four draws that see them sitting two spots above the last place Impact heading into Saturday’s action. With Mike Magee leading the Fire attack, goalscoring has not been issue. Instead, Chicago has struggled to prevent opponents from scoring, an occurrence that current Impact Head Coach and former Chicago gaffer Frank Klopas will hope will be just the tonic that his side needs to earn a much needed win.
Keep Thinking
With Impact striker Marco Di Vaio now having finished his three game suspension to start the season, the centerpiece of the Impact attack is now back and has two MLS games to his credit to get his match fitness back. The Italian star looked like his old self in the Impact’s last two games and his play has been impressively supplemented by quality offensive performances by Justin Mapp, Felipe and Andres Romero as the Montreal attack looks to be shifting into high gear after a difficult start to the campaign.
Montreal added another big weapon to their attack a week ago with the acquisition of US International Jack McInerney. The 2013 MLS All-Star has had success scoring against Chicago in the past. With a week of training with his new club now under his belt, it will be interesting to see if Klopas gives the talented young striker his first appearance for the Impact on Saturday.
Ultimately, with a potent attack now coming together for the Impact, finding the right balance between defense and offense will be the key for Montreal. In the last couple of matches, the Impact generated plenty of scoring chances, but also often found themselves hurt on the counter attack while pushing forward looking for goals. Klopas will need to make the right lineup choices to ensure that the offense clicks, but that the back door is also not left open against a potent Fire attack lead by Magee.
A big storyline in this match will be Klopas facing off against his old team with his new one. In addition to Klopas himself, expect the Montreal players to be particularly motivated to not only earn their first win of the 2014 season, but to also engineer a victory for Klopas against his previous team.
Final Thoughts
With both teams offering enticing offensive options and previously struggling defensively, this one has all the makings of another dynamic and exciting game similar to Montreal’s previous match against Houston. While that game was far from a defensive classic, it was fun to watch.
Expect plenty of goals in this fixture, with the Impact coming out on top and earning their first win of the young season.
Prediction
Montreal Impact 3-2 Chicago Fire
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