Preview: Marquee matchup awaits as Sporting KC hosts Chicago Fire on Saturday

Two of Major League Soccer's elite teams will square off on Saturday when Sporting Kansas City (8-4-9, 33 points) begins a three-game homestand against the Chicago Fire (11-4-5, 38 points) at state-of-the-art Children's Mercy Park.

Kickoff is set for 7 p.m. CT with three hours of live television coverage beginning at 6:30 p.m. CT on FOX Sports Kansas City Plus and FOX Sports Midwest Plus. Individuals who carry FOX Sports Kansas City or FOX Sports Midwest in their cable package will also be able to stream the match live on FOX Sports GO. Local radio broadcasts will air on Sports Radio 810 WHB (English) and La Grande 1340 AM (Spanish), while additional updates will be available via the Sporting KC Uphoria mobile app.

Both teams occupy second place in their respective conferences and will be looking to keep pace for top spot in the West and East, respectively. A limited number of tickets for Saturday's marquee matchup are on sale at SeatGeek.com, and the first 10,000 fans through the stadium gates will receive a commemorative "Neal" lapel pin, honoring Sporting KC co-owner Neal Patterson who passed away earlier this month.

Sporting Kansas City has strung together a 10-game unbeaten streak in all competitions since the start of June, tied for the fourth-longest run in club history. Manager Peter Vermes’ men are one week removed from a scrappy 1-1 draw at Real Salt Lake that saw Luis Silva’s first-half strike canceled out by Benny Feilhaber’s 59th-minute penalty — the first spot kick awarded to Sporting KC this season.

The hosts will have their attacking depth tested on Saturday, as leading scorer Gerso was retroactively issued a one-game suspension on Wednesday for a reckless foul last weekend at RSL. It will also be the club’s first game without departed striker Dom Dwyer, who was traded to Orlando City SC on Tuesday in exchange for an MLS-record $1.6 million in Allocation Money.

However, helpful additions will bolster Sporting Kansas City in the form of defenders Matt Besler and Graham Zusi, who will be available for selection after helping the U.S. Men’s National Team to its sixth CONCACAF Gold Cup title on Wednesday evening. Moreover, standout center back Ike Opara has been upgraded to questionable ahead of Saturday’s contest after suffering a severe concussion in a 3-0 extra-time victory over FC Dallas in the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup quarterfinals on July 11.

Led by second-year head coach Veljko Paunovic, Chicago enters the fixture as Major League Soccer’s most improved team from a year ago. The Fire’s 38 points and 11 victories both eclipse their totals from each of the last three regular seasons. A revamped roster includes a league-high four MLS All-Star selections, namely Golden Boot leader Nemanja Nikolic, German World Cup champion Bastian Schweinsteiger, U.S. international Dax McCarty and Dutch defender Johan Kappelhof.

Nikolic, Schweinsteiger and McCarty arrived this winter during a busy offseason as Paunovic aimed to assemble a squad capable of breaking Chicago’s four-year playoff drought. Nikolic has bagged an MLS-best 16 goals while Schweinsteiger and McCarty have forged a resolute midfield partnership to help the likes of David Accam (11 goals, seven assists) and Luis Solignac (four goals, three assists) enjoy career seasons.

Chicago surged to the summit of the Eastern Conference standings thanks to an 11-game unbeaten run that stretched from May 6 to July 5. The Fire rattled off eight wins and three draws during that time before falling 2-1 to New York City FC last Saturday at Yankee Stadium. The result allowed Toronto FC to assume top spot in the East heading into Week 21.

Paunovic will be forced to cope with the absence of regular starter and left back Brandon Vincent, who will miss the next several weeks with a thigh injury. On the flipside, McCarty wil rejoin the side after spending the last month with the U.S. MNT on Gold Cup duty.

Children’s Mercy Park has become a fortress over the last 14 months for a Sporting Kansas City outfit that has gone a club-record 19 straight regular season home games without defeat. Vermes’ side has conceded just five goals in 10 MLS home fixtures this season, though that number will be put to the test Saturday against a Chicago club that ranks second in MLS with 1.9 goals scored per game and leads the league with a plus-17 goal differential.

Sporting Kansas City and Chicago share a vibrant head-to-head history, highlighted by a rivalry that burgeoned during Major League Soccer’s first decade. Kansas City earned 1-0 wins over the Fire in the 2000 MLS Cup and the 2004 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup Final, while Chicago boasts regular-season bragging rights with a 26-14-11 all-time record in the series. Sporting KC’s 26 regular season losses to the Fire are their most against any opponent.

Chicago is winless in its last five trips to Children’s Mercy Park, with Sporting KC taking three wins and two draws since September 2012. The sides most recently met last July when the Fire emerged with a controversial 1-0 win at Toyota Park, receiving a contentious goal in the 19th minute from Michael de Leeuw shorty after Sporting KC had a goal wrongly disallowed for offsides.