Match Preview: Chicago Fire FC at New York City FC – May 25, 2025

Coming off a victorious trip to Rhode Island in the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup Round of 16, Chicago Fire FC will head to the Bronx to face New York City FC in Matchday 15 of the MLS regular season on Sunday afternoon.

Chicago will continue a road trip that began in winning fashion against Charlotte FC on Saturday night in North Carolina. Jonathan Bamba tallied the only goal of the first half, before Philip Zinckernagel scored and Brian Gutiérrez added his second brace of the season to pace a 4-1 road victory over the Crown. The four goals Chicago notched were the most ever allowed in a single home game by Charlotte, also making the Fire the visiting team with the most goals scored at Bank of America Stadium all-time.

New York City FC will host the Fire on Saturday night in the second leg of a three-game homestand that began with the latest edition of the Hudson River Derby on Saturday afternoon. Hosting the New York Red Bulls at Citi Field in Queens, NYCFC got on the board in the 13th minute when Alonso Martinez’s shot from long range found the corner of the goal for the 1-0 lead. Five minutes into the second half, Maxi Moralez took advantage of a mistake by the Red Bulls backline to double the lead for the hosts. Goalkeeper Matt Freese only had to make one save as the NYCFC defense held on to a 2-0 win.

CHICAGO FIRE FC (5-4-4, 19 points) at New York City FC (6-5-3, 21 points)
Saturday, May 16, 2025
Yankee Stadium – New York City

All-Time MLS Regular Season Record vs. NYC: (3-11-8)

Last Game vs. NYC: July 13, 2024 (0-0 D) – Soldier Field – Chicago (Match Recap)
Last Game at NYC: August 24, 2024 (2-2 D) – Citi Field – New York City (Match Recap)

• Let the Good Times Roll: Chicago is in the middle of a five-game unbeaten streak across all competitions, allowing only one goal to an opposing player in the process and leading Major League Soccer in wins and goals on the road. It’s good to be the Fire now, but the Men in Red will not be complacent and go out to Yankee Stadium looking to continue the good vibes.

• Empire State of Mind: The Fire will look for their first win all-time in New York City, and only their second win in the State of New York across all competitions on Saturday. The Big Apple has been a difficult place to play in for Chicago – and with a 5-2-0 home record, for the rest of the league, too – but the Men in Red have rarely had such a good road form in Club history.

• Beat the Freese: NYCFC has been a difficult team to break down this year, allowing only 14 goals all year long and only five at home. A big part of that has been the play of goalkeeper Matt Freese, who has recorded six shutouts this season on his way to a call-up from the U.S. Men’s National Team. Chances in front of goal are hard to come by with an already stingy defense, but Freese’s form has made it even harder for opponents to get anything going in New York. But few teams have created as many quality chances in front of goal as the Fire, and it will be up to the Men in Red to beat Freese and convert those chances into goals.

2 – Chicago is second in the league in non-penalty expected goals (NP xG) per 90 minutes, with a rate of 1.66 trailing San Jose’s 1.69. The number has translated into real production on the field, as Chicago is fourth in the league in goals scored per 90 with 1.85 – tied with league leaders Vancouver Whitecaps FC and Lionel Messi’s Inter Miami CF. A league leading xG per shot of 0.12 shows the Fire is generating clear chances at a league-high rate – and players like Hugo Cuypers and Brian Gutiérrez are converting them into goals on the road.

5 – In its last five matches across all competitions, Chicago has only allowed one goal directly scored by an opponent. The Fire enjoyed back-to-back clean sheets against Orlando City SC in MLS play and Detroit City FC in the Open Cup. Against Atlanta, they won 2-1 – but the 5-Stripes’ lone tally was due to an own goal. Chicago led 3-0 in Charlotte before finally conceding to U.S. Men’s National Team forward Patrick Agyemang in the 70th minute. Finally, the Men in Red held New England scoreless in Rhode Island in the Open Cup for 89 minutes, until an own goal gave the hosts a consolation prize.

10 – Hugo Cuypers added his second goal in as many matches in the U.S. Open Cup on Tuesday against New England. His 79th minute strike gave him 10 goals across all competitions in 2025, matching his regular season output from all of 2024 before the end of May. With his 10th goal of 2025, Cuypers became the first player to have back-to-back double digit scoring seasons for Chicago since Nemanja Nikolić did in 2017 and 2018. He joins other players with multiple seasons of 10 goals or more like David Accam and Ring of Fire member Ante Razov.

Chicago’s regular season match against NYCFC is scheduled to kick off at 6:30 p.m. CT at Yankee Stadium in the Bronx. It will be broadcast globally on MLS Season Pass on Apple TV and transmitted locally on wlsam.com (English) and Que Buena Fire via the Uforia app (Spanish).