Wayne Rooney is expected to be back in the lineup for D.C. United on Saturday night as his side travels to Illinois to take an Eastern Conference foe, the Chicago Fire. Rooney was kept out of the 18 on Sunday during the 2-0 loss to Atlanta United, heading back to England for some time off before rejoining the club this week. With a run of just two wins in their last 11 games, United will be hoping for a win, having dropped to fourth place in the East after New York City FC beat Sporting Kansas City on Friday night.

Kickoff is at 8 PM ET and will be streamed on FloFC for viewers in the DMV area.

After scoring and adding an assist in last Thursday's win over FC Cincinnati, Rooney was then given the game off against Atlanta. It was the first time that Rooney had been kept out of a matchday squad, with the only other game he missed since arriving coming due to a red card suspension earlier this season. With Luciano Acosta heading the attack, United nearly escaped Mercedes-Benz Stadium with a valuable road point, until two late goals handed the Five Stripes a win that catapulted them above D.C. in the standings. 

For the first time since the March 31 win at Orlando City, head coach Ben Olsen should have the ability to call upon his best starting lineup. In that game, left back Joseph Mora exited early with a broken jaw and a concussion. Since then, Olsen has swapped back and forth between his preferred 4-2-3-1 formation, and a three-center back look, which the Black-and-Red have lined up in for the past three games.

The variations in formations have forced players such as Paul Arriola, Lucas Rodriguez, and Leonardo Jara to play different roles in the lineups. However, against Chicago United will likely use the lineup that started the season so well in picking up 10 points from the first four games. That will end a streak of 19 games that Olsen couldn't use that set of players.

One player who never could help fill the void within United's lineup this year was midfielder Zoltan Stieber, who the club announced had departed the team yesterday through a mutual termination of his contract. Brought in during the summer transfer window in 2017, the Hungarian had a good start to the 2018 season before seeing his production tail off after the arrival of Rooney last July. 

This year, Stieber saw his minutes diminish drastically, playing in just nine games and totaling 301 minutes without a goal or an assist to his name. 

Earlier in the week, United also waived defender Akeem Ward while signing Atlanta draft pick Gordon Wild, giving the Black-and-Red another attacking option. Wild made his debut on Wednesday when United were on the wrong end of an 8-1 shellacking in a friendly against French side Olympique de Marseille. 

Opposite of United on Saturday night is a Fire team currently having their own struggles with their form. Veljko Paunović's side has just one win in their previous 11 games, leaving Chicago with just 23 points from 23 games. Barring a drastic change in form over the final 11 games of the season, Paunović and his team will miss the playoffs for the third time in his four seasons.

That said, the Black-and-Red have not had much success at SeatGeek Stadium, which the Fire will be leaving at the end of the 2019 season. In 11 games during the 2010s in Bridgeview, Illinois, D.C. have emerged victorious just one, in a 1-0 victory in 2015. Conor Doyle scored the winning goal that day for United, who settled for a 0-0 draw in the last game of the season in 2018 on the road against Chicago.

In the first game between the two sides this year in May, Chicago raced out to a two-goal lead at Audi Field. United clawed back and even took the lead late on through a Luciano Acosta header. However, in stoppage time, defender Francisco Calvo knocked in an equalizer, splitting the points in a wild 3-3 draw. 

Predicted D.C. United lineup (4-2-3-1): Bill Hamid, Joseph Mora, Steven Birnbaum, Frederic Brillant, Leonardo Jara, Junior Moreno, Russell Canouse, Lucas Rodriguez, Luciano Acosta, Paul Arriola, Wayne Rooney