For a third time this year, the Columbus Crew and New York City FC will face each other, with the Boys in Blue seeking their first-ever triumph at Lower.com Field on Saturday.
NYCFC resumed their Major League Soccer (MLS) campaign last weekend with a 2-2 draw at home to the Chicago Fire, while the current Leagues Cup champions pulled out a 1-0 triumph over the Philadelphia Union in midweek.
Match preview
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Just a few days after lifting the Leagues Cup trophy for the first time in club history, the Crew continued their impressive form on Wednesday, collecting their second shutout victory across all competitions this month.
After 24 league contests, they remain the best defensive unit in MLS, conceding a mere 22 goals so far, six fewer than the second-place side in that department, Charlotte FC.
Columbus come into this weekend on a seven-match winning run across all competitions, including their 4-1 friendly triumph over Aston Villa in late July.
Wilfried Nancy's men have two games in hand on FC Cincinnati and Inter Miami in the race for first in the East, currently two points behind the former and 10 below the latter.
Since their 3-0 defeat to Pachuca in the CONCACAF Champions Cup final at the beginning of June, this team have managed to find the back of the net in every one of their competitive fixtures, scoring three or more goals in five of their previous six encounters at Lower.com Field.
The only side to hold them below that rate was NYCFC, who gave up just one in their Leagues Cup quarter-final defeat versus Columbus on penalties, with the Crew also beating them in the 2024 regular season 3-2.
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Four times this month, the Pigeons have drawn first blood but failed to win in normal time, suffering another late collapse last weekend as they remain three points behind the New York Red Bulls for fourth in the Eastern Conference.
Six of their nine goals conceded in August have occurred beyond the 75th minute, while 18 of their 32 goals allowed in MLS this year have come in the final 45 minutes.
Five times in the 2024 regular season, the Pigeons have scored the opening goal and failed to win, accounting for 13 points dropped.
At the same time, Nick Cushing's side have picked up nine points over this domestic campaign when conceding the opening goal.
A victory on Saturday would give them 42 points domestically this year, surpassing their total from 2023 by a single point.
If they can triumph this weekend, the Pigeons would have four away victories in this competition, the most for Cushing in a single regular season as head coach, equalling his mark from 2022 as the interim manager.
Team News
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Once again, the Crew were without reserve goalkeeper Evan Bush in their previous encounter, as he is still recovering from a wrist injury sustained earlier in the campaign.
There were wholesale changes made to their starting 11 on Wednesday from the side that began their Leagues Cup final victory last Sunday against Los Angeles FC (3-1), with Sean Zawadzki and Malte Amundsen being the only two players to feature in the starting 11 for both matches.
Yaw Yeboah had the only goal in their midweek victory over the Union, his first of the 2024 domestic campaign, while Patrick Schulte was back between the sticks in place of Nicholas Hagen, stopping three shots for the clean sheet.
Last week, Strahinja Tanasijevic was an unused substitute, having previously sustained a knock, Andres Perea was sidelined due to a leg injury and Malachi Jones was unavailable because of a broken tibia.
We saw one new face in their starting 11 last Saturday who did not begin their Leagues Cup quarter-final defeat against the Crew with Birk Risa replacing Tanasijevic at centre-back.
Alonso Martinez netted twice in the opening 22 minutes versus Chicago, giving the Costa Rican a team-high 10 goals in MLS this season.
Columbus Crew possible starting lineup:
Schulte; Moreira, Camacho, Amundsen; Farsi, Nagbe, Matan, DeJuan Jones; Ramirez, Rossi; Hernandez
New York City FC possible starting lineup:
Freese; Gray, Martins, Risa, McFarlane; Sands, Parks; Wolf, Moralez, Rodriguez; Martinez
We say: Columbus Crew 2-1 New York City FC
Although the Pigeons have been right there in both of their matches with the Crew this season, they still seem to lack that killer instinct and when you waste opportunities against the reigning MLS Cup champions, they usually find a way to make you pay.
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