With time winding down, Toronto FC enters Solider Field with a must-win mentality

Three points must be on Toronto FC’s (5W-10L-4D) mind Wednesday, as Bob Bradley’s side travel to Soldier Field to take on a last-place Chicago Fire (4W-10L-5D) side in Week 20 MLS action.

Toronto enters Wednesday’s game seven points back of an MLS Cup Playoff spot with 15 matches remaining. Recent signings have given Toronto FC fans reason to once again be excited heading into the second half of the season, and on paper, the club has finally put together a squad that appears to be capable of making a push towards the postseason, but they’ll need to start picking up results if they want to stay in contention.

To quickly recap the club’s latest additions: former Genoa and FC Zenit captain Domenico Criscito made his debut on Saturday and came as advertised, while Lorenzo Insigne continues to move in right the direction ahead of his potential debut on July 23 as he recovers from a calf injury. Canadian international Mark-Anthony Kaye, meanwhile, could potentially feature for the Reds as soon as Wednesday as he shakes off a bit of hamstring tightness, and then there’s Insigne’s Italian national team teammate Federico Bernardeschi, who will be joining Toronto FC in the coming days, according to multiple sources.

The reason for excitement is there, though the results have to follow if they want to capitalize on the opportunity that’s in front of them this season.

“We look at everything and know that in the final 15 games, we’ve got to put together a stretch of games,” said head coach and sporting director Bob Bradley on Monday. “The way MLS works, when you get a two, three, four-game winning streak going, when you can take a bunch of points in a short amount of time, that makes a huge difference. We’ve got to find a way to do that.”

Toronto FC will be without any designated players following the departures of Alejandro Pozuelo and Carlos Salcedo, and as Insigne works his way back. The team may also be without Kaye (hamstring tightness) and Criscito’s minutes will be monitored having featured in Saturday’s match. There's a lot working against the club for Wednesday's tilt, but history between the two clubs is heavily on the side of the Reds.

Dating back to April 15, Toronto is unbeaten in their last 14 matches against the Fire – their longest unbeaten streak against a single opponent in club history.

Furthermore, Chicago is one of the few teams in MLS this year that has actually been worse than Toronto despite plenty of hype coming into the season – headlined by star signing Xherdan Shaqiri. Chicago opened the campaign with a five-match unbeaten run, however, since then, everything has fallen apart. The Fire have only picked up eight points from their last 14 games, which includes just a pair of wins and draws.

They enter Wednesday having dropped three of four, including a 3-2 loss to the Columbus Crew over the weekend.

“[I’m expecting] a team that will now come off of a tough loss at home where they were ahead 2-0, they will try to respond,” said Bradley. “I think they’ll be missing a couple of players, but you’ll get a strong effort.”

“This is a team that is going into this game trying to bounce back from a bad loss at home,” added midfielder Jonathan Osorio. “They’ll kind of have that desperate feeling going into the game because this is a big game for them as it is for us. … We know that we’re going to have to go in and really bring the intensity from minute one.”

Toronto will need to shake their road demons as well if they want to walk away from Solider Field with three points. TFC are just one of three clubs in MLS that have yet to win away from home in the league, with their last MLS road victory coming all the way back on July 21 – almost a year ago – coincidentally against the Fire.

Picking up points away from home is essential if they want to make that aforementioned push towards the postseason.

“Our margin for the second half of the year is tight – let’s face it,” said Bradley. “[We need to] make sure we come out of games with points and that is going to mean that we have to be able to play well and win away.”

Kickoff is at 8 pm ET.

Predicted Starting XI

(4-3-3) Westberg; Thompson, O’Neill, Mavinga, Criscito; Osorio, Bradley, Nelson; Kerr, Jiménez, Petrasso

Injury Reports

Toronto FC: Noble Okello (OUT), Lorenzo Insigne (OUT), Mark-Anthony Kaye (QUESTIONABLE)

Chicago Fire: Javier Casas Jr. (OUT), Gastón Giménez (OUT), Miguel Navarro (OUT), Wyatt Omsberg (OUT)

Betting Lines

Toronto FC (+350) | Chicago Fire (-155) | Draw (+325)

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