While braving summer temperatures and humidity at Red Bull Arena, the New York Red Bulls and Chicago Fire will take to the field on short rest with much at stake.
If the teams do not play to a draw, then the winner will move ahead of D.C. United into second place in the East behind Sporting Kansas City while having played one more game than D.C., which faces Columbus this weekend.
Wednesday's matinee is the second meeting between the two clubs this season. Chicago took three points from the first one, a 3-1 result at Toyota Park on June 17. The Fire have Marco Pappa return to the lineup after he missed the club's win over the weekend, while Jalil Anibaba and Austin Berry team in central defense with German veteran Arne Friedrich suspended for the match.
The Red Bulls, meanwhile, are without the injured Rafa Marquez and rookie goalkeeper Ryan Meara, but newcomer Sebastien Le Toux makes the start for the second straight game. He'll begin the match up top alongside Thierry Henry, as Kenny Cooper shifts to the bench.
If you will be watching this afternoon's match, please feel free to follow along with us and send any comments and questions our way or leave any opinions in the comments section below. Enjoy the action (commentary begins after the jump):
Please Mr. Garber and Mr. Heck 8:00 PM kickoffs! You do know that our league is played on the summer calendar.
1st clean sheet for the BUlls in awhile… Despite the heat it was an entertaining game and I wasn’t expecting that!