Charlotte FC has not lost a league match since Aug. 1. Eight matches: five wins, three draws. By the club's count, only St. Louis City (16) and the Philadelphia Union (11) have longer unbeaten runs going in MLS.
The team that beat Charlotte on Aug. 1 was the Chicago Fire. And the Fire come to Bank of America Stadium on Saturday night.
Kickoff is 7:30 p.m. It is the 10th meeting between the clubs and the last of the regular season. Charlotte won five of the first six. Chicago has won the last three, including that 2-1 win in Chicago, where Pep Biel scored in the 18th minute and Chicago answered twice.
There's something riding on this one, folks. Charlotte is fourth in the Eastern Conference with 43 points (12 wins, 7 losses, 7 draws). Chicago is fifth with 39. A Chicago win would cut the gap to a single point heading into the international break. Chicago, coached by Gregg Berhalter, lost 3-0 at Nashville in its last match.
And Charlotte will be short. Four players have already left to join their national teams, according to the club's match notes: Liel Abada and Idan Toklomati (Israel), Rodolfo Aloko (Benin) and Andrew Johnson (St. Vincent and the Grenadines). Toklomati and Abada have scored 14 of the club's 47 league goals between them. Here is who is missing, and who is left.
Charlotte's last match went well. It won 2-1 at D.C. United on Sept. 19, its fifth road win of the season, one short of the club record of six set last season. Captain Ashley Westwood scored from 20 yards in the 22nd minute, his third goal of the season, which ties his best MLS year, 2023. Then he set up Allan Saint-Maximin's winner in the 71st. The club says Charlotte has never lost a match in which Westwood scored: eight wins and a draw.
Saint-Maximin has a goal and five assists in his last five appearances, and goalkeeper Kristijan Kahlina made 10 saves at D.C., matching his career high, according to the club. The club says Kahlina's 114 saves are tied for second in MLS this season. Defender Harry Toffolo is back from injury, having played 21 minutes at D.C. in his first action since Aug. 1.
Charlotte is unbeaten in six at home. Saturday is the club's Por La Cultura Night, on Apple TV (Steve Cangialosi and Danny Higginbotham in English) and WFNZ radio (Will Palaszczuk and Anna Witte). The next match after the break is Oct. 10, at home against FC Dallas.
Eight matches unbeaten against everybody. Three straight losses to one team. Saturday, one of those two streaks ends.