Chicago Fire head coach Gregg Berhalter denied that either him or his team were feeling the pressure after failing to win either of their opening two matches in the 2025 MLS season.

The Fire travel to Dallas this weekend, having drawn at home to DC United and lost away to Columbus Crew in what are also Berhalter's first two matches in charge.

"I wouldn't say pressure," Berhalter told the media when asked about his start.

"We know what business we're in and we want to win every game, right? So when we're looking at how these two games unfolded: against Columbus, there's really good pieces of it for a certain time period, and then against DC, we fought to get back in the game and really get the lead again.

"Then a crazy, unfortunate play in the last second, literally, of the game changed the course of that result.

"So we remain calm, we remain focused. We know we have three away games in a row. We're just going to be focused on playing the game."

Belgian forward and club-record signing Hugo Cuypers has already scored two goals this season and Berhalter told the media that he was hopeful about his fitness levels going into this weekend's fixture.

"He's not at 100% yet and, again, that's something we just have to deal with. We know he missed all the preseason for us again. We're urging patience to keep getting him to where he needs to be, but it's certainly great when you're not 100%, and you're scoring two goals."

Goalkeeper Chris Brady agreed with the comments of his coach, suggesting that the team are only going to get better and better.

"It's still really early in the season, there’s a lot of progression yet to take place," he said.

"But compared to what I was experiencing and how I was feeling about playing the ball with my feet and just overall confidence, I think, two games in, it is definitely higher."

PLAYERS TO WATCH

Dallas – Petar Musa

No Dallas player has been directly involved in more goals than Musa so far in the 2025 season, with two goals and two assists in his first two matches.

The Croatian netted 15 goals in 28 appearances for Dallas last season after joining from Benfica and will be keen to continue his fine form this term. 

Chicago Fire – Hugo Cuypers

Cuypers scored both goals for the Fire in their 2-2 draw with DC United on Saturday. He is the only player who has scored more than one goal in multiple games for Chicago since the start of the 2023 season.

The Belgian had scored 51 goals in 90 appearances for Gent prior to his move to Chicago last year, where he managed 10 in 31.

MATCH PREDICTION: DALLAS WIN

This will be the Chicago Fire's first away game against Dallas since a 3-1 defeat in July 2018, while they haven't won there since October 2013.

Dallas, meanwhile, have taken four points from their opening two games in MLS this season, both of which have been on the road.

That four-point haul is also Dallas' best start to an MLS season since 2020, while they have scored five times in their first two matches for the first time since 2006.

OPTA WIN PROBABILITY

Dallas – 60.8%

Draw – 20.6%

Chicago Fire – 18.6%