How to Watch Chicago Fire vs. LA Galaxy: Preview, odds

The LA Galaxy have won two big games in a row, and now they turn their attention to a long road trip, where they’ll take on the Chicago Fire at Soldier Field on Saturday evening.

LA most recently grabbed three points in El Trafico, a 2-1 win with goals from Chicharito and Sega Coulibaly. Between that home win and the road win at the Portland Timbers the week before, the sour taste from the previous two losses have mostly washed away. But could this be a trap game of sorts?

It’s not like the Fire have been bad to start the season, they haven’t, but they’ve been outstanding on one side of the field. Defensively, they’ve started their tenure under new head coach and former Galaxy defender Ezra Hendrickson in stellar form, allowing just two goals in six games, with teenage GK Gabriel Slonina playing very well indeed. However, in attack they haven’t really gotten off the ground, with only five goals scored, which is joint-worst in the league. They’ve only lost one game but it was the last one, a 1-0 loss at Orlando City where the Fire were down a man for a full half.

So, I don’t think this will be an easy game by any means for the Galaxy and they’ll need to avoid the traps of a grinding match, something that has already tripped them up this season. But if they can take the game to their opponent and hopefully get another early lead, then they could keep their little hot run going in the Windy City. We’ll see how this one shakes out.

Injuries/absences

LA:

• Jorge Villafaña (knee) — OUT
• Adam Saldaña (ankle) — OUT

Chicago:

• Brian Gutierrez (suspended) — OUT
• Fabian Herbers (hip) — QUESTIONABLE
• Xherdan Shaqiri (calf) — QUESTIONABLE

Odds:

According to our friends at DraftKings Sportsbook, as of Friday afternoon, LA are (+220), the Fire are (+125) and a draw is at (+250). Maybe the Galaxy are slight underdogs, given the travel and the good defensive start for Chicago, but the Fire are not big favorites here.

How to Watch:

Saturday’s match between LA and the Chicago Fire will be televised locally on Spectrum SportsNet and streamed in the rest of the United States on ESPN+. The TV broadcast is scheduled to start at 5 pm PT with kickoff to follow at 5:08 pm.

Come chat about the game with us in the comment section below!