Pride in Victory
Chicago is currently sitting at the bottom of the NWSL standings, only having walked away from a match with points twice so far in the regular season. The team’s 4-2 win over the Kansas City Current and 1-1 draw with the Washington Spirit have only given the Red Stars four total points, with NJ/NY Gotham FC leading the league with 16 points. While bringing down Orlando won’t put the team in contention with Gotham in the race for the NWSL Shield, it will bump them out of last place if current 11th-place Kansas City don’t take home a win against Houston.
Streaks of Pride
The Red Stars have walked away with a win in their last four regular season meetings with the Pride. If they triumph over Orlando once more on Saturday, they will hold only the second five-match win streak against a single opponent in club history. The only time the Red Stars have repeated this feat is against the Boston Breakers between 2013 and 2015. With the Pride not recording a loss in their last four regular season matches (WDWW), Chicago certainly has their work cut out for them, but the team is certainly used to facing pressure.
Davidson’s Defense
After missing all of the 2022 season due to injury, Red Star and United States Women’s National Team defender, Tierna Davidson, returned to the pitch this year, and she’s making sure everyone knows it. Davidson appeared in every competition for the Red Stars so far this season, starting in all except for the team’s Challenge Cup match against Houston. Davidson’s gritty back line performance so far has made her the Red Star with the most clearances (48) and blocks (9). The defender also has the most attempted passes on the team (455), with 123 completed passes in the opposing team’s half. In Chicago’s last match against the Portland Thorns, Davidson had more completed passes (55) than any Chicago or Portland player. That number more than doubles the most completed passes by a player in Orlando’s last match (26, Mikayla Cuff).
