Two of the teams in the bottom half of the Major League Soccer Eastern Conference will meet on Sunday when Columbus Crew welcome DC United to Lower.com Field.
The hosts are without a victory in their previous six outings in all competitions, while the visitors have won two on the bounce heading into this weekend.
Match preview
© Reuters
Columbus Crew have started the season in a difficult manner, and they head into this one on the back of six matches without a victory.
However, Caleb Porter's team have managed to win twice in their opening eight MLS matches, and all of those have come at home so far.
The squad will also take some confidence from the fact that they ended their four-game losing run last weekend when they had a goalless draw against Sporting Kansas City.
Unfortunately for Columbus, that marked the fourth outing in a row where they have failed to find the back of the net in the MLS, which is one of the reasons for their struggles.
With the division still tight due to its early stages, the club does have the chance to climb up to fourth place with a victory depending on other results.
© Reuters
On the other hand, DC United are in slightly stronger form heading into Sunday's match after winning their previous two matches in all competitions.
The squad knocked out Flower City Union in the U.S. Open Cup with a dominant 3-0 victory, and they followed that up with a more frantic 3-2 win against New England Revolution.
DC United came back from behind with three goals in the first half with a brace from Taxiarchis Fountas and one by Michael Estrada, which secured the win.
The club currently sits just one place below Columbus in the league table, and with a game in hand on the majority of the teams around them, they will be confident that they can push on in the division.
Chad Ashton will now be wanting to see the recent offensive qualities continue in their upcoming away games, after only scoring twice on the road so far this season.
- W
- D
- L
- L
- L
- D
- D
- L
- L
- L
- L
- D
- W
- L
- L
- L
- L
- W
- L
- L
- L
- L
- W
- W
Team News
© Reuters
Columbus were without Kevin Molino last weekend due to a knee injury, and there are doubts surrounding the striker once again heading into this encounter.
At the other end of the field Eloy Room returned to the starting lineup in goal against Kansas City, and after keeping a clean sheet it is likely he will retain his place.
The visitors have their own injury problems to deal with as Adrien Perez is out with a foot issue, Sofiane Djeffal has a shoulder problem, and both Moses Nyeman and Chris Odoi-Atsem have situations with their thighs.
Estrada will be expecting to lead the line for DC United on Sunday after scoring last week, and Fountas should also feature following his brace.
Columbus Crew possible starting lineup:
Room; Santos, Degenek, Jonathan, Moreira; Morris, Artur, Nagbe; Yeboah, Igbekeme, Berry
DC United possible starting lineup:
Kempin; Pines, Birnbaum, Hines-Ike; Gressel, Canouse, Durkin, Smith; Fountas, Flores; Estrada
We say: Columbus Crew 1-1 DC United
There is only goal difference to separate these two teams in the league, and it is likely that there will not be much between them when it comes to Sunday's match.
Each club is enduring mixed form right now, and therefore could benefit from a victory, but because of that it could lead to a cagey encounter that might produce a draw.
Top tip
Data Analysis
Our analysis of all available data, including recent performances and player stats up until an hour before kickoff, suggested the most likely outcome of this match was a Columbus Crew win with a probability of 53.92%. A draw had a probability of 23.1% and a win for DC United had a probability of 23.01%.
The most likely scoreline for a Columbus Crew win was 1-0 with a probability of 9.85%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 2-1 (9.81%) and 2-0 (8.91%). The likeliest drawn scoreline was 1-1 (10.85%), while for a DC United win it was 0-1 (6%). The actual scoreline of 3-0 was predicted with a 5.4% likelihood. Our data analysis correctly predicted that Columbus Crew would win this match.
