The Chicago Fire host DC United as the first round of the playoffs gets underway at Toyota Park.  It’s a tough match up for the Fire as they finished the season as the 4^th  seed in the Eastern Conference and have been drawn against the top seed in MLS. Still, there are a number of good signs for Juan Carlos Osorio’s side as they prepare to do battle with the best the MLS has to offer. With their victory in their final regular season match over the Los Angeles Galaxy they finished the season on an 8 match unbeaten run. Over that run they won 3 matches while drawing the remaining 5.

The turning point of the Fire’s season was without a doubt the moment in which Cuauhtemoc Blanco arrived from Mexico in July. Since that moment  the Fire have lost just one of their last 12 matches with the highlight being their current streak of 8 games without a loss. Blanco’s return also coincided with the return of Chris Rolfe from injury and the addition of Costa Rican international Paulo Cesar Wanchope. These 3 players gave the Fire at front 3 to rival any other in the league. They would play so well the rest of the way that the loss of Justin Mapp to injury was hardly noticed.

While the attack is in good hands this series will be won and lost for Chicago in the back line. CJ Brown, Dasan Robinson and Gonzalo Segares will have their hands full trying to slow down the vaunted DC United front line of Jaime Moreno, Christian Gomez and Luciano Emilio. Emilio won the MLS Golden Boot this season with 20 goals. Defensive midfielder Wilman Conde, who joined the club around the time of the All Star break from Colombia, could play a key role in shutting down the passing lanes from the DC midfield to the attack.

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