Philadelphia Union vs Chicago Fire Prediction: Backing either side is too much of a risk.

Philadelphia's first test in the new season is against Chicago Fire at the Subaru Park. Philadelphia Union will hope to get the fans behind them as they fight for all 3 points in what seems to be a top clash. History of the h2h meetings between both clubs show that Philadelphia Union have not lost to Chicago Fire at the Subaru Park since 2016. With all things being considered it is easy to see Philadelphia Union keeping that record on the opening day of the season. However, Chicago Fire are eager to change that narrative, no matter how impossible it looks. 

Both clubs had the preseason preparations ahead of the season and it looks like Chicago Fire was the better team during the campaign. As for Philadelphia Union, they must put those results behind them and hope they can get back to their best just in time for this clash.

Philadelphia Union

Philadelphia Union will be eager to start the season on the front foot. Although their results from the preseason games say otherwise. Philadelphia Union played exactly 5 games during the preseason and they had 1 win, 2 draws and 2 defeats in those 5 games. They started off with a defeat against Flamengo, then they drew against Austin. After that, they won the game against New York City, then lost to FC Cincinnati and finally they played a goalless draw with New England Revolution. It's not the ideal run that Philadelphia Union were expecting ahead of the new season, but they are a very good team with good players and the fans can hope that they turn up in the opening game.

Last season Philadelphia Union ended in 5th spot with 55 points from 15 wins, 10 draws and 9 defeats. Daniel Gazdag and Julian Carranza both scored 15 and 14 goals last season, while Kai Wagner registered 8 assists.

With the above players still within the rank, Philadelphia Union should be just fine in the new season but first they need the first win.

Chicago Fire

Chicago Fire have some reason to be optimistic ahead of the new season. They are not the best team out there, but their performances in the preseason offers the fans some hope that the team might at least make it to the playoffs by the end of the season. 

Chicago Fire had a good run in the preseason where they lost 1 of 6 matches. They won 4 games against Loudoun United, Austin FC, Minnesota United and Portland. And then they drew against New York Red Bulls and lost against Los Angeles FC. 

Last season Chicago Fire ended in 24th place with a total of 40 points. They had 10 wins, 10 draws and 14 defeats last season. Maren Haile-Selassie was top scorer for Chicago Fire with 6 goals, while Xherdan Shaqiri scored 5 goals and Brian Gutierrez registered 6 assists.

This season, they will hope to do a better job and fight to play in the playoffs. The squad seems to be in dire need of more quality to help them achieve such ambitions but maybe they might just have a trick or two up their sleeves.

Head to Head

According to the h2h, in the last 20 meetings between Philadelphia Union and Chicago Fire, Philadelphia Union won 11 matches, while Chicago Fire won 5 and they played a draw in 4 matches.

Analysis and Predictions

Chicago Fire are looking prepared for the season already and they might just be fit enough for the battle against Philadelphia Union. Philadelphia Union on the other hand have the quality and advantage of playing at home, but they are yet to put in a convincing performance since the preseason. While it's tricky to call out an outright winner, we can expect the game to be open and goals coming from both ends at least.

According to h2h analysis, Philadelphia Union have not lost in the last 3 meetings and Chicago Fire are without a clean sheet in those 3 games. There were also more than 4.5 cards shown in 7 of their last 8 meetings.

• Over 2 Goals Total at 1.76 Odds
• Over 2 Goals Total at 1.76 Odds
• Both Teams to Score at 1.75 Odds