Chattanooga FC hosts Chicago Fire II on Saturday, July 5th with kick-off set for 7:00 p.m. ET at Finley Stadium, presented by Food City.
Chattanooga FC looks to kick-start its month of July with a return to winning ways against an in-form Chicago Fire FC II at Fort Finley on Saturday night.
Head Coach Chris Nugent's side remain unbeaten at home this season, most recently coming off a goalless draw with FC Cincinnati 2, and when kick-off commences on Saturday night, it will be 307 days since the club's last home defeat.
Saturday night's match will be the second-ever meeting between the two clubs. The first encounter saw CFC come from behind to earn a draw in Chicago back on June 7th, 2024.
What they said
Head Coach Chris Nugent previewed the matchup with Chicago earlier this week.
"They [Chicago] get a lot of numbers forward and they make it very difficult to defend with the sheer numbers and their presence in the box," said Nugent. "We need to prevent opportunities where they can get numbers forward just with how we defend a little bit further up the field. And then when we are in and around our box, it's about how we defend. We’ve done, for the most part, a pretty good job inside the box defending throughout the year, so we want to continue with that.
"We also want to take advantage of their buildup. They’ve got a clear style of play, so we will need to find weaknesses and traps that give us opportunities to show our strengths.
"We're also looking to be more clinical as well as have more volume in front of the goal. We’ve created chances. At the start of the year we finished them, and now, obviously, you’re always going to revert back to the mean a little bit with it. But if we can bring those numbers up, and we have the quality to do so, I think that will be a key aspect for a successful Saturday night."
Did you know?
- Chattanooga FC defender Tate Robertson leads the league in assists (7)
- Chattanooga FC goalkeeper Eldin Jakupović and defender Farid Sar-Sar have both played every minute this league campaign and are joint top of the league in minutes played (1350)
News around CFC
- Jakupovic has been recognized for his excellent performances in the first half of the season by being one of four goalkeepers selected to compete in the 2025 MLS NEXT Pro Goalie Wars competition during the MLS All-Star Skills Challenge presented by AT&T on Tuesday, July 22nd in Austin, Texas (Read more here)
- Earlier this week, the club announced the loan signing of D.C. United midfielder Gavin Turner, which represented the first loan signing from an MLS club in CFC history (Read more here)
Know the opponent
Chicago Fire FC II (6W-4L-4D, 24 pts) is coached by Mike Matkovich, who is in his first season as head coach of the club. Matkovich was the club's Head Domestic Scout in the past two seasons.
Chicago's one of the in-form teams in the league having recently been named MLS NEXT Pro Team of Matchweek 16. The club is currently on an eight-game unbeaten run, most recently coming off a 3-1 victory at Inter Miami CF II and 1-1 draw at home against Crown Legacy FC (Chicago won the shootout for the extra point 5-3).
The team has four different players with four goals to their names: Jason Shokalook, Claudio Cassano, Jean Diouf and Trip Fleming. Cassano leads the team with an impressive six assists.
Match info
Venue: Finley Stadium | Chattanooga, Tenn.
Kick-off: 7:00 p.m. ET, Saturday, July 5
Broadcast: MLS Season Pass on Apple TV | Talent: Jake Griffith
Internet Radio: CFC on Mixlr | Talent: Gabriel Schray
Team uniforms for Saturday's match
Referees:
Tim Wagner
Head Referee
Austin Holt
Assistant Referee 1
Rebecca Luther
Assistant Referee 2
Aleksandar Zhelyazkov
4th Official
