The Columbus Crew was the featured participant of The Late Show on Wednesday Night as Alexandru Matan’s stoppage time winner gave the Black & Gold a deserved advantage against the Houston Dynamo in their CONCACAF Champions Cup first leg tie. The focus now shifts back to Columbus and MLS play as the Crew face the Chicago Fire at Lower.com Field on Saturday night.

Chicago has yet to win in the 2024 season but has had some good performances thus far. The Black & Gold will likely have to rotate the squad a bit, as this is the team’s second match this week and part of a run of four matches in 10 days.

Here’s what to expect from Columbus’ longtime rivals and how the Crew can take care of business on Star Wars Night at Lower.com.

Chicago Fire at a Glance:

Record: 0-1-1 (1 point)

Form: L-D

Leading Scorer(s): Brian Gutierrez, Fabian Herbers, Xherdan Shaqiri (1)

Assist Leader(s): Brian Gutierrez, Fabian Herbers (1) 

Player to Watch: Brian Gutierrez

Fans of the United States Men’s National Team and Youth National Teams will know the name Brian Gutierrez, who has been a highly touted youth player for a long time. In fact, the 20 year old is entering his fifth year as a professional already after signing a Homegrown deal in 2020. The experience Gutierrez has gained over the past four seasons is starting to paying dividends thus far in 2024.

Gutierrez already has a goal and an assist (both coming in Week 1) and has been the Fire’s best player by far so far in 2024. The midfielder typically operates on the left wing and cuts onto his preferred right foot in front of the goal. Gutierrez is a high-level player in possession when breaking down opponents’ defenses. He is also adept at running at back lines and causing headaches for defenders in 1 v. 1 situations.

With the attention that Gutierrez’s teammates (Xherdan Shaqiri and new signing Hugo Cuypers) demand from opponents, Gutierrez is often left in 1 v. 1 matchups that he looks to exploit. Look for Gutierrez to have a big impact for the Fire on Saturday.

How Chicago plays: 

Frank Klopas is in another Year 1 as a head coach in Chicago after finishing the 2023 season and beginning 2024 as the interim coach. Klopas has been around the league as a long time as a player and a coach and has brought a sense of identity and stability to the Fire so far in his tenure.

Tactically, Klopas and company have deployed a 4-2-3-1 shape most often. However, Chicago has tended to change that shape if Klopas believes his team can cause the opponent a headache by presenting them with a different shape. In fact, the Fire opted to match FC Cincinnati’s back three shape last match. Klopas could do the same against the Crew on Saturday.

In possession, Chicago looks to expand the field as wide as possible to create space to attack in. This is often done by the Fire’s outside backs pushing high and wide up the field. When this happens, the wingers, such as the aforementioned Gutierrez, will move into more central areas in order to create a numerical overload. Chicago will look to keep possession of the ball patiently and move the ball from side to side before playing into an attacking player’s feet. The Fire has also played more direct aerial balls into the central striker when the opportunity presents itself. Once Chicago moves the ball into the attacking areas, the Fire looks to attack the goal as quickly as possible.

Defensively, Chicago looks to press high up the field under Klopas. Last week in the 3-4-2-1 shape, the Fire did the team’s best to force the ball to the center back that offers the least threat in possession. This could be a similar approach on Saturday. The rest of Chicago’s press is largely man to man, emphasizing forcing turnovers high up the field.

How the Crew can win:

1. Beat the press. The Crew struggled at times last week to beat the Minnesota United press. When the Black & Gold did, they were able to create free flowing attacks towards the goal. If Columbus can easily beat the Fire press, the Crew will have all kinds of daylight to attack on Saturday.
2. Make Chicago defend deep. As discussed, the Fire wants to defend in the attacking half and on the front foot. If and when the Black & Gold beat that pressure, they will do well to force Chicago to defend in the team’s defensive half. The Fire has largely not been forced to defend deep yet this year and have struggled with it in the past. Columbus is among the best in the league at wearing teams down.
3. No silly goals against. The Crew has been solid defensively this year. If not for a sloppy and somewhat lucky goal conceded in Minnesota, the Black & Gold would not have conceded a goal this season. This is a marked improvement from the reigning MLS Cup champions and one that needs to continue. If Columbus can avoid giving away cheap goals, very few teams in the league will be able to get into an attacking rhythm due to the lack of possession teams have against the Crew.