The New York City Football Club continue their road as the season closes in the MLS All Star Break by heading to Soldier Field to take on the 13th place Chicago Fire, a team that NYCFC has typically had success against historically. The Pigeons, who sit in a solid 5th place in the East with an even dozen games remaining on the season are coming off a disappointing loss on the road against Austin, a match that both players and coaches alike felt that was a game that should have been won. Midfielder Hannes Wolf during the Fire Pre-Match Press Conference stated, “In Austin, for the 90 minutes we were the better team, we had the better chances, we should have won this game.” This match also marked the team’s third straight road loss, after shutout losses to both the LA Galaxy and Nashville SC a week prior.
So as the club from the Bronx (and occasionally Queens) head to the Windy City, a few stats for the water cooler, Reddit or Twitter/X:
5 STATS
1) NYCFC Has Had Good Success Against Chicago. Overall NYCFC is 11W-4L-6D but 3W-4L-3D on the road against the Illinois squad. Additionally they’re 4W-0L-1D in the last five against Chicago.
2) NYCFC is Offsides. A Lot. The team is tied for 4th with 49 offsides this season while the Fire are middle of the pack with 38. If you’re wondering, FC Cincinnati is tops in the league with 59.
3) Matt Freese Dipped to 2nd. After the team’s 2-1 loss last week the Goalkeeper had his save percentage drop to 77%, now second in the league behind John McCarthy of the LA Galaxy. Also, Freese is third this season in shots faced with 113.
4) Alonso Martinez and Santi Rodriguez Are Battling It Out. Both players lead the team with 8 goals on the season, although Martinez has done it in 15 games vs Rodriguez’s 22.
5) TMI (Thiago Martins Information) Thiago Martins, NYCFC’s lone All Star this season is tied for 7th in completed passes with 1181.
About the author – Scott Churchson has been an actor in every way for the past 14 years, from BG to stand in to stunts and principal, a sports writer for the past 4 and is one of the people that created Stream Punk Entertainment. He’s married to a veterinarian, has a cat with three working legs, a mother-in-law who just moved in and is just a simple man trying to make his way in the universe.