

Posted by

Steve Bottjer ,

July 29, 2014 Email

Steve Bottjer

On Twitter:

@BottjerRNO

First thoughts

After drawing their third straight match on Sunday against Dallas on Sunday, the Vancouver Whitecaps head to the Windy City for a midweek match in which they will endeavor to earn a breakthrough win and end a busy July on an uplifting note. Following Wednesday’s match, Carl Robinson’s squad will have ten days off before their first match of August against Sporting Kansas City.



While the Whitecaps will surely gunning for all three points, this match has big time potential to end as yet another draw given that Vancouver leads the Western Conference with 10 draw and Chicago lead the Eastern Conference with a league high 11.



Keep thinking

While Vancouver likely felt plenty of frustration given that they were only able to draw against a Western Conference side in which they peppered the opposition net with a club record 30 shots, the Whitecaps will likely take plenty of confidence from the fact that they are unbeaten against Eastern Conference opponents heading into Wednesday’s fixture.



It will be interesting to see if Robison elects to make any changes to his starting eleven given the quick turnaround after Sunday’s game. The Whitecaps squad has plenty of young legs and, as mentioned already, Vancouver will have plenty of days off after this game to recuperate.



As for the Fire, they are coming into this game off of 5-1 road defeat to the San Jose Earthquakes, so they will likely be a squad intent on bouncing back and making amends for that lopsided scoreline. While Chicago have only won three games so far, they will still present a big test for Whitecaps back line that has been something of an Achilles heel for club so far this season. In addition to being lead up top by reigning league MVP Mike Magee, Quincy Amarikwa and Harry Shipp are both having exceptional seasons having scored six goals apiece.



Similarly, the challenge for the Fire back line will be hard pressed to deal with the pace of a Whitecaps squad containing speed demons such as Erik Hurtado, Kekuta Manneh and Darren Mattocks. Furthermore, how Chicago central midfielders Jeff Larentowicz and Matt Watson deal with a red hot Pedro Morales will likely play a big part in the outcome of this game.



Ultimately, with both sides focused on winning the battles in the middle of the pitch, this game could down to a coaching battle determined by whichever side best utilizes the wide positions on the pitch to the best effect. In that vein, if Chicago utilizes Shipp in a wide role similar to the one that Justin Mapp has excelled in with Montreal, it could open up plenty of poaching options for the Fire’s quick and mobile forwards. As for Vancouver, it will be interesting to see how Robinson lines up his troops for this road match. If he elects to go with only one defensive midfielder, it could give the Whitecaps an additional wide outlet on the attack.



In the end

In many ways, both Vancouver and Chicago are due for win. However, given the way the two sides match up and the fact that the Fire will hold home field advantage, this one is more than likely to result in yet another draw.



Prediction

Vancouver Whitecaps 1 – 1 Chicago Fire