Chicago Fire midfielder Anton Saletros believes the club must take lessons from their recent MLS defeats into the playoffs.

The Fire are fourth in the Eastern Conference with four games to go, the first of which is a trip to Atlanta United, but they have faltered in recent games.

After stringing together a three-game winning run, Chicago have lost back-to-back matches over the last week.

They followed up a 3-1 defeat to the Philadelphia Union with a 1-0 loss to the New England Revolution.

Despite dropping six points, Saletros believes Chicago can take positives from their recent form.

"I think we develop, and we learn every week," said Saletros, who wore the armband against New England.

"I think these games where we played decently but didn't win, it's going to be important to experience that, especially in the playoffs, when sometimes the game can be decided in one moment.

"So it's a great experience for us, as a group, to have been through that.

"We obviously want to win the game, we want to win every game we play. It's a mixed feeling, but also after a loss, you're not very happy."

Back in the 2026 Audi MLS Cup Playoffs  https://t.co/d7lXapkaOf

— Chicago Fire FC (@ChicagoFire) October 18, 2026

Atlanta are 14th in the East, but are just six points off the postseason places ahead of hosting Chicago.

In their most recent MLS outing, the Five Stripes lost 3-1 to Inter Miami after a brace from Lionel Messi.

PLAYERS TO WATCH

Atlanta United – Fafa Picault

Picault scored Atlanta's lone goal against Inter Miami with an 89th-minute penalty.

Since the beginning of the 2018 season, Picault has scored 15 regular-season goals in the 85th minute or later, with only Carles Gil (16) also having at least that many in that time.

Chicago Fire – Maren Haile-Selassie

Haile-Selassie has scored Chicago's last two goals against Atlanta, with the lone goal in May's 1-0 win and Chicago's final goal in a 2-2 draw last July.

No MLS player has a longer active streak of league matches with a goal against Atlanta, while the last longer streak was a three-match run by Lucho Acosta in 2023–24.

MATCH PREDICTION: CHICAGO FIRE WIN

Chicago allowed just five shots in their loss to New England. It was the third time this season that Chicago had faced five or fewer shots in an MLS match, after the team had one such game in each of the 2023, 2024 and 2025 seasons.

Atlanta attempted 14 more shots than Miami (21–7) in the Five Stripes' 3-1 home loss. It was the fourth time this season that Atlanta had 14 or more shots than their opponent in an MLS match, their most such games in a single season in club history.

Atlanta have won seven of eight regular-season home matches against Chicago (D1) for an average of 2.75 points per match.

The only MLS team with a higher points-per-match average in home games against another team (min. eight games) in the post-shootout era (since 2000) is Los Angeles FC against the Seattle Sounders (2.80).

OPTA WIN PROBABILITY

Atlanta United – 32.4%

Draw – 25.5%

Chicago Fire – 42.1%