Union-Chicago Fire prediction: Will Mikael Uhre net his first goal of the season?

The Fire haven’t won in Chester in a decade. Mikael Uhre seems a prime candidate to keep the streak going.

After the Champions League game at Alianza on Tuesday, Mikael Uhre (right) posed for a photo with some Union fans who traveled to the game.Read morePhiladelphia Union

Published March 11, 2023, 5:00 a.m. ET

There are times when you can look at a sports team’s form and sense instinctively that it’s due for a loss. Right now, the Union seem due for a win.

It helps, as I’ve already written, that the Chicago Fire team that comes to Subaru Park on Saturday (7:30 p.m., Apple TV, paywalled) isn‘t very good. The Fire have useful attacking talent in Xherdan Shaqiri, Kei Kamara, and Chris Mueller, and would have more if Jairo Torres wasn’t injured. But Chicago’s defense is where the Union should feast.

Last Saturday, the starting backs were 22-year-old Carlos Teran and 32-year-old Rafael Czichos. Teran made 12 defensive recoveries, but recorded zero tackles and was 0-for-3 on duels contested; Czichos had one recovery, two tackles and was 3-for-7 on duels.

From here, that reads as a recipe for Mikael Uhre to eat up as he seeks his first goal of the year.

I mentioned in one of my game preview pieces that we might see Matt Real start at left back so Kai Wagner can start Tuesday against Alianza in the Champions League. I wonder if we might also see a Damion Lowe-Jakob Glesnes centerback pairing so Jack Elliott can rest for Tuesday too.

That game is a must-win to advance in the tournament; this game is a you-really-should-win-it type.

Here’s one more thing to know: the Fire haven’t won at Subaru Park in a decade. That’s as much about a long-ago powerhouse’s fall from grace as it is about the Union’s rise, but Chicago is still a ways from getting up.

Prediction: Union 2, Fire 0.