Philadelphia Union are looking to continue their unbeaten start to this year's MLS season when they welcome Columbus Crew to Subaru Park on Saturday.
The visitors are currently sitting fifth on eight points, five points behind league leaders Philadelphia, who could extend their lead at the top to six points if second and third place lose this weekend.
Match preview
© Reuters
Not only do Jim Curtin's side enter this fixture on the back of four consecutive victories, a 2-0 win against new outfit Charlotte FC on Sunday meant that they recorded their third clean sheet in a row also.
Julian Carranza and Daniel Gazdag were on the scoresheet against Charlotte, and that outing turned out to be a comfortable day at the office for Union, which is something they will look to replicate this weekend.
Philadelphia have a clear style which is working for them at the moment, as they give up possession to their opposition, averaging the lowest percentage across the country, but they are very dangerous on the counter-attack.
Curtin's team are not showing any weakness away from home or on their own patch, with a 100% record so far on their travels, which means that they are only one win from equalling their entire total of away victories from last year.
Union had a very good record at Subaru Park last term, only tasting defeat three times on home soil, and they are showing that they are capable of another good season which they will be confident about continuing this weekend.
© Reuters
Columbus Crew were unbeaten at the start of this season before last weekend, but when they welcomed Nashville to the Lower.com Field that record vanished as they fell to a 1-0 defeat.
Caleb Porter's side would have felt hard done by coming away from that loss, having dominated possession and created more clear cut chances than their visitors, but that should teach the Crew to be more clinical in front of goal.
That was the first outing Columbus have failed to find the back of the net in this season, but after two draws from their first two away games, Saturday's visitors are likely to have to get on the scoresheet more than once to find their first win on their travels.
Crew are the top scorers in the Eastern Conference, having netted 10 times in five matches, which does bode well for Porter's team moving forward and further into the season.
- D
- W
- W
- W
- W
- W
- D
- W
- D
- L
Team News
© Reuters
Curtin has a fully fit and available squad to choose from this weekend, and he could name the same starting 11 as last weekend, but Alejandro Bedoya is expected to return to the side in place of Quinn Sullivan.
The hosts will not operate with recognised attacking wide players, but with Carranza and Sergio Santos leading the line as a pair, and Bedoya and Leon Flach in a more advanced role from midfield, Philadelphia will look to release these players on counter-attacks.
Isaiah Parente, Jake Morris, Josh Williams and Kevin Molino will all be absent from Columbus' squad due to injury and illness, but there are no new issues for Nancy to work around.
Crew will operate in a 4-2-3-1 formation, with Miguel Berry likely to lead the line, looking for his second goal of the season after opening his account this year on the opening day.
Lucas Zelarayan, Darlington Nagbe and Artur will continue to make up the central midfield three, while Derrick Etienne and Yaw Yeboah offer an attacking threat from out wide.
Philadelphia Union possible starting lineup:
Blake; Wagner, Elliott, Glesnes, Harriel; Martinez, Flach, Gazdag, Bedoya; Santos, Carranza
Columbus Crew possible starting lineup:
Room; Santos, Degenek, Mensah, Moreira; Nagbe, Artur; Etienne, Zelarayan, Yeboah; Berry
We say: Philadelphia Union 2-1 Columbus Crew
Philadelphia have kept three consecutive clean sheets, but Columbus are the highest scorers in the division at the moment, so the visitors are likely to find the back of the net on Saturday.
However, Union are in great form and will look to capitalise on the fact that Crew lost last weekend which may have knocked some of their confidence.
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 Philadelphia Union win with a probability of 50.12%. A draw had a probability of 26% and a win for Columbus Crew had a probability of 23.89%.
The most likely scoreline for a Philadelphia Union win was 1-0 with a probability of 12.87%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 2-0 (9.7%) and 2-1 (9.25%). The likeliest drawn scoreline was 1-1 (12.27%), while for a Columbus Crew win it was 0-1 (8.14%). The actual scoreline of 1-0 was predicted with a 12.9% likelihood. Our data analysis correctly predicted a 1-0 win for Philadelphia Union in this match and our team at Sports Mole correctly predicted the win for Philadelphia Union.
