Chicago Fire at Columbus Crew
When: 7 p.m. at Crew Stadium
TV: Channel 50
Scouting the Fire: The Fire (4-7-3, 15 points) is undefeated in its last six matches, including a U.S. Open Cup defeat June 13 of the Crew. A victory here, however, would be a big help as the eighth-place Fire tries to catch the seventh-place Crew and climb toward a playoff spot. Mike Magee has scored once in each of his five appearances since joining the Fire in late May. He seems likely to play despite suffering a back injury Wednesday.
Scouting the Crew: Columbus (5-5-5, 20 points) has been hit hard by injuries lately, but it had an impressive win last week against first-place Montreal. Jairo Arrieta is back from national-team duty, but he might sit while team scoring leader Dominic Oduro gets his spot up top. Goalkeeper Andy Gruenebaum is one of the league’s most underrated at that position.
Next: Orlando City SC, 7:30 p.m. Wednesday at Toyota Park in U.S. Open Cup quarterfinals.
— Orrin Schwarz