Chicago Fire FC vs San Jose Earthquakes 7/19/20 - MLS Picks & Predictions

On Sunday, the Chicago Fire FC will play the San Jose Earthquakes in a group stage fixture as part of the MLS is Back Tournament at the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex. The Chicago Fire defeated the Seattle Sounders 2-1 in their first match in Group B. Robert Beric opened the scoring for Chicago in the 52nd minute while Mauricio Pineda scored the winner in the 84th minute after Seattle had scored an equalizer with a Handwalla Bwana goal in the 77th minute.

Chicago was initially in Group A but was shifted to play in Group B after Nashville SC withdrew from the tournament when 9 of its players tested positive for covid-19 . Chicago appeared to play much better defense in this matchup against Seattle after losing to the Sounders on March 1 in the opening match of the MLS season 2-1 prior to the long suspension of play. Chicago is 11-3-4 in it's 18 fixtures head-to-head with Seattle.

San Jose rallied to defeat the Vancouver Whitecaps 4-3 in the most exciting match thus far in the MLS is Back Tournament. San Jose fell behind early in the match 2-0 after just 22 minutes, but fought their way back to 2-1 following an Andres Rios goal but gave up another Vancouver goal to trail 2-1 after 60 minutes of play.  Chris Wondolowski scored for San Jose in the  72nd minute, followed by an Oswaldo Alanis goal to tie the scored 3-3 late. San Jose went ahead for good in the eighth minute of stoppage time with a Shea Salinas goal.

San Jose never gave up after trailing on two occasions by two goals but will be facing a much more difficult task against Chicago. San Jose's backline and goalkeepers played poorly against Vancouver and the back four must tighten up or San Jose will be out of the match early.