After a Florida 12 day training camp, the Fire are back in Chicago today. The team will travel to Los Angeles next week to play four more preseason matches. Three weeks remain before the season opener against Seattle Sounders and six weeks until Soldier Field’s home opener.
The thought of any team winning the 2020 MLS Cup, let’s not forget the Fire, seems far away. We thought it worth looking at the preseason to see if there is any hope for the Fire.
The bad news. Bovada is offering the Fire a +4000 wager (40/1 in fractional betting) to win the league title. This is 16th place out of 26 teams. They are just a few steps away from the MLS Playoffs. Bovada also hosts the Columbus Crew, FC Dallas and Sporting Kansas City at +4000.
Who are your favorites? As you can probably guess. Bovada offers LAFC at +400. Atlanta United, Seattle and Toronto FC are at +700. NYCFC is at +800. LA Galaxy is at +1400. Minnesota United, Real Salt Lake and Thierry Henry’s Montreal Impact are at +1600. Nashville SC has the lowest odds of winning at +15000.
The good news is here. Five Thirty Eight rates the Fire sixth in MLS’s Soccer Power Index.
How to Bet on Chicago Fire
The Chicago Fire Soccer Club is also known as the “Men in Red” and plays their home matches in Bridgeview, Illinois at Toyota Park. On the 126th anniversary, the team was established. Chicago Fire won the double in its inaugural season. They won both the MLS Cup as well as the U.S Open Cup. The team went on to win additional U.S Open Cups in 2000 and 2003. In 2003, they won the MLS Supporters Shield. [+]
In their first match, the Fire defeated the reigning champions 2-1. They also won the expected goals battle 1.28 to 1.89. Chicago converted two huge scoring opportunities (35%> chance to score) and Seattle was limited to one shot exceeding 0.10 xG.
Fire are currently in transition with a new owner and manager, technical director, as well as a sporting director, technical director, and a new manager. The Fire’s unquestioned leader, Bastian Schweinsteiger (ex-Bayer Munich captain), has retired.
They also lost Nicolas Gaitan, their top attacking player, to LOSC Lille. However, the Fire brought in a few talented European attacking players to help fill the void. It will be interesting to see how they perform in their first season in the Windy City.
Chicago was the most underrated team last season in MLS. Although the Fire finished eighth in the Eastern Conference in terms of expected goals against and for (1.36) per match they ranked in the top five, they were disappointingly in the bottom ten. They won their first match but I fear that the huge roster turnover could backfire on them.
Chicago Fire Betting Tips
Although Veljko Raunovic is still the head coach, there are many steps to be taken to improve the team’s fortunes. However, signing MLS super draft picks Brandt Bronico (MLS Super Draft) and Matej Dekovic (MLS Super Draft) for 2017 has given hope that 2017 will be a positive year. There are also options for 2018 and 2019.
Although new players will help Chicago Fire long-term, 2017, may still be a work-in-progress. Fire can be a good bet for more than 2.5 goals in most games with an attacking outlook. They are still viable betting options if you factor them in as consistent market value.
Last Updated on November 18, 2021
