New York City FC hosts the Chicago Fire in conference action

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Chicago Fire (8-5-2, second in the Eastern Conference) vs. New York City FC (6-6-4, fifth in the Eastern Conference)

The Bronx, New York; Saturday, 7:30 p.m. EDT

LINE: NYCFC +127, Chicago +180, Draw +266; over/under is 2.5 goals

BOTTOM LINE: New York City FC faces the Chicago Fire in conference action.

NYCFC is 5-4-2 in conference matchups. NYCFC has an 18-5-1 record in games it scores two goals.

The Fire are 6-4-2 against conference opponents. The Fire rank fifth in the MLS giving up only 19 goals.

The teams meet Saturday for the first time this season.

TOP PERFORMERS: Nicolas Ezequiel Fernandez Mercau has scored 11 goals with two assists for NYCFC. Hannes Wolf has three goals and one assist over the last 10 games.

Hugo Cuypers has 11 goals for the Fire. Philip Zinckernagel has five goals and seven assists over the past 10 games.

LAST 10 GAMES: NYCFC: 13-11-6, averaging 3.9 goals, 13.2 shots on goal and 9.3 corner kicks per game while allowing 4.5 goals per game.

Fire: 22-4-4, averaging 6.6 goals, 16.2 shots on goal and 13.5 corner kicks per game while allowing 4.2 goals per game.

NOT EXPECTED TO PLAY: NYCFC: Drew Baiera (injured), Kevin O'Toole (injured), Adrian Alonso Martinez Batista (injured), Aiden O'Neill (injured), Kai Trewin (injured), Maxi Moralez (injured), Raul Gustavo (injured), Keaton Parks (injured).

Fire: Mbokazi (injured), Andre Franco (injured), Chris Mueller (injured).

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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.