After earning their first point of the 2023 Major League Soccer campaign last weekend, Toronto will host the Columbus Crew on Saturday in their opening match at BMO Field this season.
The Reds ended their two-game road trip by drawing Atlanta United 1-1, while the Crew won their first encounter of the year, 2-0, over DC United.
Match preview
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In their opening two matches of the year, we have seen a scrappy Toronto team who are still struggling to get on the same page.
Bob Bradley was critical of his side's inability to connect passes in Atlanta, as they failed to create a ton of opportunities to score.
When you find yourself on the back foot, defending deep as often as the Reds did last weekend, it can limit your ability to counter effectively, and Toronto discovered that versus the Five Stripes with just 33% possession and a pass accuracy below 80% (76%).
Even though they are struggling with consistency, their opening two matches were there for the taking, and the Reds failed to capitalize, already squandering five points from winning positions this year.
TFC come into this encounter winless in its previous four regular-season contests at BMO Field, conceding nine goals over that stretch.
They have lost their last three regular-season affairs against the Crew but have also won three of the previous four home fixtures against them, while posting two clean sheets.
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It was quite the atmosphere at Lower.com Field on Saturday in Columbus, and the Crew took full advantage of the raucous crowd, going ahead after 10 minutes and cruising to a comfortable victory.
That was the first regular season triumph for Wilfried Nancy since joining the club from CF Montreal, a team he helped lead to a second-place finish in the Eastern Conference at the end of the 2022 regular season with an impressive 65 points.
Last Saturday was also the first time Columbus had won a regular-season encounter when scoring the opening goal since defeating Inter Miami 1-0 at the end of August 2022.
The coach of the Crew has gone with a back three in their two matches so far this year, methodically opening up gaps in the opposition's defence thanks to quick combinations and switches of play.
Columbus have narrowly missed the postseason in each of its previous two campaigns, and their form on the road played a big part in that last year as the Crew failed to win their last seven games away from home in 2022.
Heading into this upcoming fixture, the Crew have not lost a regular season game on Canadian soil since 2019, when Toronto beat them 1-0 in their final encounter that year.
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Team News
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Lorenzo Insigne and Themi Antonoglou will be question marks for Toronto this weekend because of lower-body issues, while it remains to be seen if Victor Vazquez will be healthy enough to return from his upper-body injury.
Federico Bernardeschi has two goals in his opening two games of the campaign, while Mark-Anthony Kaye is tied for the league lead in tackles won (seven) and interceptions (seven).
Jonathan Osorio has yet to find the back of the net this season, but he has scored four times for the Reds against the Crew, and Sean Johnson was named to the reserve Team of the Week in MLS for Matchday Two, stopping five of the six shots fired his way in Atlanta.
Will Sands is questionable for Columbus because of back spasms, Christian Ramirez will not be available due to a foot injury and Gustavo Vallecilla is pushing to make his first appearance since joining them on loan from the Colorado Rapids last Friday.
Lucas Zelarayan was named the MLS Player of matchday two, with a brace in their victory over DC, and Eloy Room collected his first clean sheet of the campaign in that encounter, making three stops.
In their previous visit to Toronto last year, the Crew got goals from Sean Zawadzki and Darlington Nagbe, with Jacen Russell-Rowe assisting on each strike in a 2-1 victory.
Toronto possible starting lineup:
Johnson; Laryea, Hedges, Rosted, Petretta; Bradley, Kaye; Thompson, Akinola, Osorio; Bernardeschi
Columbus Crew possible starting lineup:
Room; Quinton, Degenek, Moreira; Diaz, Morris, Nagbe, Farsi; Zelarayan, Hernandez, Molino
We say: Toronto 2-1 Columbus Crew
Injuries to some key players have plagued Toronto early on this season, but their new centre-backs seem to be well-equipped to handle the dangerous Columbus attackers, while Johnson showed last week that he is still an elite keeper, so we expect that he and the TFC home crowd will power them to victory.
How to watch
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Joel Lefevre
