Riding an eight-match MLS unbeaten run at Lower.com Field, the Columbus Crew are back in action Saturday, hosting a Toronto side currently on a lengthy losing spell of 12 games in all competitions.
The Crew are coming off an emphatic 3-0 victory over the Supporters' Shield leaders, FC Cincinnati last weekend, moving them up to fifth in the Eastern Conference, while the Reds remain second from the bottom after a narrow 3-2 defeat at home to CF Montreal.
Match preview
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The first MLS fixture in over a month could not have gone much better for Columbus, who were all over their state rivals Sunday, capturing the Hell is Real Derby in convincing fashion.
There were a lot of eyebrows raised when the Crew sold one of the most individually-gifted players in MLS, Lucas Zelarayan, to the Saudi Pro League, but with three or more goals in their three matches played since his departure, it is looking like a savvy move for the time being.
With 48 goals after 24 regular season affairs, the Crew are the highest-scoring team in the Eastern Conference and are within striking distance of a home playoff fixture, with only one point currently separating themselves in fifth from the Philadelphia Union, who are third.
Under Wilfried Nancy, this team have been a lot quicker in terms of moving the ball up the field when in possession, while they may have more attacking depth than anyone in the league, even without Zelarayan, as a dozen players have at least one goal for them in the 2023 domestic campaign.
As dangerous as this group have been in the attacking third this season, there is room for improvement along the back end, with the Crew struggling when it comes to centre-back depth, allowing 33 goals in MLS this year, the second-most among all Eastern Conference sides who are currently above the playoff line (Atlanta United have conceded 39 goals).
So far in 2023, Columbus have never been held off the scoresheet in a regular season encounter played at Lower.com Field, losing only one match there domestically all year (2-1 to Inter Miami on April 29).
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Breaking down the Toronto flaws over this campaign without seeming repetitive is becoming exceedingly difficult for a team inching closer and closer to making the wrong kind of club history.
Terry Dunfield remains without a point since being named the interim manager, though his side found the back of the net on two occasions versus Montreal, which is two more than the Reds had managed in their previous six competitive matches combined.
That will mean little to a side who are now just two defeats away from equalling their club record nine-match losing run in MLS, set in 2012.
The Reds have only notched one goal in their last five away matches in all competitions, while also being the only side in MLS without a road victory this year.
TFC have never earned a point at Lower.com Field, losing their only previous visit there in 2022 (2-1), while they have not won a domestic game played in Columbus since scoring twice in the final 10 minutes, capturing a 2-1 triumph at Historic Crew Stadium in 2017.
Toronto squandered five points from winning positions in the second half of their first two road contests this year, but they have rarely been positioned to claim all three points in an MLS away fixture of late, with their 1-0 advantage against the New England Revolution lasting 22 minutes, one of only two opening goals this team have scored on the road since the start of June.
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Team News
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Will Sands missed another match for Columbus last weekend because of a knee injury, while Rudy Camacho and Diego Rossi each made their debuts for the Crew off the bench versus Cincy, replacing Sean Zawadzki and Alexandru Matan, respectively.
Aidan Morris, Cucho Hernandez and Jacen Russell-Rowe all found the back of the net in that Hell is Real Derby triumph, with Patrick Schulte making four stops for the clean sheet.
Morris was involved in their only goal against the Reds earlier this season when a 75th-minute strike from Jimmy Medranda gave them a 1-1 draw.
In their loss to Montreal last weekend, Toronto had Michael Bradley, Lorenzo Insigne and Victor Vazquez back in the lineup after each missing time with lower-body injuries, while Greg Ranjitsingh, Cristian Gutierrez, Adama Diomande and Latif Blessing missed that game for that exact reason, Sean Johnson was sidelined with a fractured hand and Raoul Petretta will be suspended for this encounter.
Federico Bernardeschi had a brace in their loss to Montreal, his first two goals of the campaign since the beginning of April, while an own goal by Aime Mabika put them behind by two in the early stages of that contest.
Jonathan Osorio has four goals in his TFC career versus Columbus, and the Canadian set up the Deandre Kerr strike in their previous match against the Crew this year.
Columbus Crew possible starting lineup:
Schulte; Moreira, Camacho, Amundsen; Gressel, Nagbe, Morris, Yeboah; Rossi; Ramirez, Hernandez
Toronto possible starting lineup:
Romero; Franklin, Mabika, Rosted, Marshall-Rutty; Bradley, Osorio; Ibarra; Bernardeschi, Owusu, Sapong
We say: Columbus Crew 3-1 Toronto
The Toronto backline have been inconsistent and out of sorts on many occasions of late and shutting down a side like Columbus with so many dangerous attacking pieces will be a massive challenge for this struggling side.
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Top tip
Joel Lefevre
