Seeking their first away victory of the 2025 MLS campaign, New York City FC travel to Lower.com Field on Saturday for a date with the Columbus Crew.
The Crew are third in the Eastern Conference following a 1-1 draw with San Diego FC, putting them a point above the Pigeons in the table, with the latter winning their previous league fixture 2-1 over the New England Revolution.
Match preview
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A club that had so much offensive firepower over the past two seasons have not been nearly as potent in the early stages of this year.
Wilfried Nancy's men, who scored the second most goals in the 2024 regular season (72), have netted one or fewer in three of their four league contests this year.
While they have not boasted as much quality lately, the Crew have found ways to earn points, being one of only three teams in the Eastern Conference without a single defeat thus far.
In the 2024 regular season, the Crew conceded the third-fewest goals in MLS (40), and they have continued to be compact defensively so far this year with the joint fewest goals allowed in the Eastern Conference (four).
Going back to the 2024 campaign, Columbus are unbeaten in their last four regular-season affairs at Lower.com Field, winning two of their four competitive fixtures played this year at home.
They have never lost a competitive contest versus New York City FC in Columbus, claiming a 4-2 victory at home in this exact fixture last year.
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After another slow start to a domestic campaign, the Boys in Blue have started to gain a little momentum in recent weeks.
Pascal Jansen's men have won their last two matches in this competition after picking up just one point from their first two games.
Jansen is still seeking his first away victory in MLS with his side losing 1-0 at Los Angeles FC in their previous match as the visitors.
Since a 5-1 triumph at the New York Red Bulls last September the Pigeons have failed to win their last three regular season encounters away from home, failing to score in two of those games.
NYCFC have collected four points from a losing position this season, including a 2-1 come-from-behind victory against the Revs the last time out.
The Boys in Blue have drawn first blood in their previous four meetings with the Crew across all competitions, but failed to emerge victorious each time, with their last triumph against them being in 2022 (2-0).
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Team News
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On matchday four, Columbus were without Lassi Lappalainen, Rudy Camacho, and Steven Moreira due to thigh issues, while Nicholas Hagen was unavailable because of a hand injury.
They will be missing former NYCFC defender Malte Amundsen, who is suspended following his red card in the second half last week, while Patrick Schulte (USA), Taha Habroune (USA Under-20) and Mohamed Farsi (Algeria) are all on international duty.
Maximilian Arfsten scored the only goal against San Diego, his first of the 2025 MLS season, but he is also on international duty with the US at the CONCACAF Nations League.
In their victory last weekend, Tayvon Gray, Malachi Jones and Andres Perea all sat out for NYCFC because of leg injuries.
Four of their players were called up for international assignments this week, including leading goalscorer Alonso Martinez, who is with Costa Rica, Drew Baiera was called up to the United States Under-18 squad, Tomas Romero was named to the El Salvador team and Zidane Yanez is with the Chile Under-17 team.
Julian Fernandez found an equaliser 12 minutes after a Thiago Martins own goal put them behind against the Revolution with Martinez notching the winner in the second half.
Columbus Crew possible starting lineup:
Bush; Cheberko, Zawadzki, Herrera; Derrick Jones, Chambost, Nagbe, DeJuan Jones; Rossi, Jackson; Russell-Rowe
New York City FC possible starting lineup:
Freese; Ilenic, Martins, Haak, O'Toole; Shore, Parks; Fernandez, Moralez, Wolf; Bakrar
We say: Columbus Crew 1-1 New York City FC
Although Columbus are missing their share of starters, Nancy has a group of fast learners who can execute a new game plan well, and we believe they will find a way to get a result this weekend.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Joel Lefevre
