The Fire XI

The Fire stood at the top of the league at the end of week 3 in MLS, though it was a fortunate win in Oakland, the expansion Earthquakes striking the woodwork twice and missing an open goal in the dying minutes. A better performance will be needed against a stronger Wizards team.

It's good that the Fire have depth at the back this season. Both Brandon Prideaux (who injured himself in the pre-game warm-up last week) and Diego Guttierrez are listed as doubtful on the injury report, but there should be little to fear with Conde and Robinson set to have stronger performances with one game now under their belts.

Conde played most of the second half against UIC on Wednesday, and looked in excellent shape, intimidating enough to make one feel sorry for the college kids he was bullying around. The Colombian may have annoyed teammates and fans with his offseason demand for a trade, but with it seems all sides have now realized that it's better for Conde to be playing than not. It looks as if CJ Brown is still not ready to return from an apparently mysterious hip injury, so the Fire may be unchanged there from San Jose.

The rest of the team news is below the jump. 

In midfield, Chris Rolfe sported a giant cast on his ankle before the UIC game, casting some doubt on his availability for this game. The question, then, is whether Hamlett will stick with Stephen King -- who has looked nothing but a tidy young MLS player so far -- or give John Thorrington a full run out on the right-side.

Up front, Andy Herron played aggressively against UIC to push his case for a first start of the season, though he looked a little slow at times. It'd be tough to break up what has been an excellent goalscoring combination of Barrett and Frankowski so far, even though they haven't actually combined together very often yet.

A final question concerns Justin Mapp, who is still receiving criticism for seemingly lackluster effort. What do you think -- should Justin be rested for a game?

The Wizards XI

The Wizards began the season with a four game homestand, winning the first two against DC and Colorado, before falling to New England 3-1 and tying 1-1 with Houston. That marks a fairly impressive start, as they begin a critical six game road trip.

Their new forwards, Claudio Lopez and Ivan Trujillo, have both each scored once, but critically, playmaker Carlos Marinelli left the last game early and is listed as doubtful on the injury report.

By the end of the last game, KC were fielding an extremely young team. Two 2008 Superdraft picks, Chance Myers (1st overall) and Roger Espinoza (11th overall) made their debuts, with second-years Michael Harrington and Kurt Morsink also playing.

Watching the Game

Information about tickets to the game, tailgating and transit is available here . If you can't make it to Toyota Park, the game will be televised on My50.

Prediction

The Fire's greater experience and tight backline (no opposing player has scored against Chicago this season) will see them to a 1-0 win.