Long have there been tales of ancient glory passed down from early years of MLS about the Revolution and Fire meeting in the playoffs. It is easy to forget those epic matches of decades ago, especially when you factor in Chicago making the playoffs just twice since 2009 and an Eastern Conference final loss to...RSL.
While the Revs and Fire are not currently matched up in the bracket as of now, both head into tonight's matchup at Gillette Stadium (730pm EDT, Apple TV) with more than three points in mind, but homefield in the first round series close in hand.
New England currently has clinched a playoff berth in 3rd place with 49 points and 15 wins just ahead of Chicago on 48 points and 14 wins in 4th. A win or draw today would also clinch the Fire a spot in the bracket but like the Revs I think they are trying to aim their sights a little higher.
Sam Lattof
Midweek I opined that it would perfectly acceptable for the Revs to drop out of the Top 4 given their injury list and late season fixture congestion. Such a fall in the standings would be disappointing but would not have in my opinion made this turn around in 2026 any less successful.
Sam and Seth wrote about head coach Marko Mitrovic's midweek quotes between the Cincy game and today and while he gave a very candid answer about short, medium, and long term goals - the highlight was absolutely him not knowing/caring about the Revs had clinched a playoff spot. Winning in the short term is great, but setting your self up to win for multiple years however is still the primary task at hand. I think it's fantastic that Mitrovic is staying incredibly grounded about the short term results while keeping at least an eye towards the future in the same mold of my midweek take.
But that win in Cincy was pretty massive for the Revs as far as their postseason seeding and just flipping the momentum from their previous two 0-3 losses.
Seth Macomber
Right now all of the Revs plans still revolve around Carles Gil playing at an First Team All-MLS level and he is absolutely doing that. Peyton Miller has been a boon at wing for most of the year despite that maybe derailing plans for him to play a lot more at left back. But again, the Revs being in a position to adjust in the short term isn't taking away from future success.
But the success New England is having currently is likely going to come down to just how much Gil and Miller can help get Dor Turgeman on the scoresheet. The striker's first brace for the Revs boosted them to a win over Cincy along with an unlikely first time goal scorer in Josh Wynder who is adapting quickly while covering for the injured Mamadou Fofana. Not to be forgotten is the quiet but steady rise of Brooklyn Raines whom Seth profiled this week and by all accounts his soccer prowess is second only to his greatness as a person.
The Revs will need everyone to contribute down the stretch if they want to secure homefield in November. While a win today will not clinch it, it will make it very difficult for Chicago to climb over them with a four point cushion.
Here to give his take on what might be a hot take of today's "Loser Leaves Town Top 4 In the East" matchup is Tim Hotze from MenInRed97 as the Fire deal with their own issues in the backline and remind me for the umpteenth time that Philip Zinckernagel is a real person who is absolutely good at soccer and would be even without that Lewandowski guy but it sure helps. Tim's Top 4 insight about the Revs remaining schedule is a very good addition to the topic at hand.
I will table my ongoing gripes with the city of Chicago and it's deep dish casserole for if and when the Revs and Fire meet again the playoffs this year because I'm sure Tim or someone from MIR has some proper recommendations for tavern pizza which is allowed to be mentioned in the same conversation as New Haven style...after the other stuff has been properly denounced.
As always be sure to follow Tim and head on over to their site for all of their coverage on tonight's game.
Seth Macomber
1) So sleeper agent Jack Elliott picked up two first half yellows against the Union, obviously put the Fire in a bad spot in the second half but how is Chicago going to cover his absence against the Revs?
1) Jack Elliott isn't the only center back missing for the Fire: Sam Rogers is also out with an injury. That all but certainly sets up Andreas Hanche-Olsen, a late transfer window pickup from Mainz in the Bundesliga, for his first start. An in-prime player with experience at the top levels in Europe, Hanche-Olsen has the right profile of someone who can be a very good center back in this league, but he's hardly played over the past year due to injuries. He'll likely start on the right with Mbekezli Mbokazi on the left.
2) New England won in Chicago last month, but the Fire were on a pretty good roll after that. What was working well over the last month and what maybe was something that needed improving heading into the stretch run for the playoffs?
2) Here's one thing that's been working well for the Fire: The play of Maren Haile-Selassie. He's got a goal in each of the last three games, and notched assists in two of those games, becoming the second Fire player in team history to record get into the double digits for both goals and assists in a season after Philip Zinckernagel did it last year. He, more than any other Fire player, has benefited from the addition of Robert Lewandowski to the Fire's roster.
The two have developed solid chemistry, and three of Lewy's four assists since coming to MLS have been setting up goals for the versatile Swiss attacker. Beyond that, though, the team has benefited from stronger midfield play, particularly from Anton Salétros since his return from injury and Djé D'Avilla – that is, until his last outing against New York City last Saturday that saw him sent off.
3) I have a bold statement - winner of NE-CHI guarantees a Top 4 finish in the East for said team? Agree or Disagree? Give us your playoff seed for the Fire and how far they could go in November.
3) That is a bold statement. I'm not entirely sold, but I'll take it. My biggest hesitation: How well the Union have been playing since the World Cup break (eight wins in a row is now joke, whatever the opponents), and how hard the Revs schedule is the rest of the way out (have fun against Philly next week!).
(TBM aside, I think fearing the Union on the road more than Inter Messi at home on November 1st is the correct take.)
Overall, though, I can't see a world where one of the Revs or Fire don't make the top four (call me a Charlotte non-believer, because I am), and getting three points in this one puts the winner that much closer. The model I've built for our weekly newsletter actually says the Fire are likely to stay in fourth place, with the Revs likely to finish just ahead of them in third. That flips if the Fire win this one.
In the playoffs, I think a conference semifinal appearance is firmly within the Fire's grasp ‒ and honestly, at that point, there's some aspect of roll-of-the-dice to it at that point. For the Fire to get there (or beyond), though, they need to beat good teams that are realistic contenders themselves. That's why this game is so crucial to the Fire: not just because of the three points and potential to clinch a playoff spot, but because this is the Fire's last game of the regular season against a team with top-four-in-conference ambitions.
Lineup/Injuries/Predictions/Etc.
Lineup: 4-3-3 (4-4-2 defending)Lewandowski; Dithejane, Haile-Selassie, Zinckernagel; Pineda, D'Avilla, Saléros; Barroso, Mbokazi, Hanche-Olsen, Dean;
Brady
On our podcast, I said 2-1 Fire win: They'll be hungry for revenge after the way the game between these two teams went last month, and I'll stick with that here.
