Chicago Red Stars vs. Portland Thorns FC – 7:30pm EST, Paramount+ SeatGeek Stadium | Chicago, Illinois Match Facts: The Red Stars (0-0-1) head home following their opening night draw against the Houston Dash. Visiting are Portland (1-0-0) who looked much like the Thorns of old in a rollercoaster 2-1 victory against Kansas City. Players to […]

Chicago Red Stars vs. Portland Thorns FC – 7:30pm EST, Paramount+

SeatGeek Stadium | Chicago, Illinois

Match Facts: The Red Stars (0-0-1) head home following their opening night draw against the Houston Dash. Visiting are Portland (1-0-0) who looked much like the Thorns of old in a rollercoaster 2-1 victory against Kansas City.

Players to Watch: For the Red Stars, it’s Katie Johnson. With Watt occupying the #9 role much of the Fall, Johnson was a surprise start up top for Rory Dames. Only managing three shots and 50% passing accuracy, it will be interesting to see how she fares against a Thorns side that shares many defensive strengths with the Houston Dash.

Rocky Rodriguez was the star of the show for the Thorns last weekend, and she’s a player to watch again tonight. With an astounding 80% passing accuracy, she was a midfield metronome for the Thorns – and faces a bigger test tonight against the likes of Morgan Gautrat and Danny Colaprico.

Keys to the Game: Success for Chicago can be found with replicating the creative joy they found out wide against the Dash. It’s a tough task against a staunch Thorns defense, but if Sarah Luebbert and Kealia Watt put in repeat performances tonight the Red Stars will find themselves with their first win of the season.

Portland’s midfield was astounding against Kansas City. Rocky Rodriguez was four for four on dribbles, Celeste Boureille leads the league in interceptions with fourteen, and Meghan Klingenberg was a threat on both sides of the field. If the Thorns can replicate that production this week, they can leave the Windy City with all three points.

Ways to Watch: American viewers can find tonight’s match of Paramount+ – while fans in Canada and abroad viewers can stream the match at twitch.tv/nwslofficial4