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• New England Revolution v Columbus Crew: Nancy hoping to build on important win

  Wilfried Nancy insists Columbus Crew must continue to build on their recent winning run when they travel to face New England Revolution this Sunday. 

  The Crew returned to winning ways in style following their defeat to Inter Miami, beating Kansas City 4-0 last time out courtesy of Cucho Hernandez's hat-trick. 

  Nancy's side sit in fifth place in the Eastern Conference, two points behind Charlotte FC but with the luxury of three games in hand compared to Dean Smith's side. 

  Despite their convincing victory in their last MLS fixture, Nancy is looking to replicate the Crew's four-game unbeaten run they enjoyed last month moving forwards.

  “It was really important also when I made all the changes that we stay focused on the task,” Nancy said.

  “With all the celebration also was not easy because we can switch really quickly.

  "I really wanted to help my team to have a clean sheet if possible and to score more goals because this is the level that we want to have. I don't like when we take everything for granted.”

  Meanwhile, the Revs also come into the fixture on an impressive run of form, beating high-flyers FC Cincinnati 2-1 away from home to extend their winning streak to four matches in the MLS. 

  Caleb Porter's side welcome the Crew to the Gillette Stadium this weekend in search of improving their home form to climb up the Eastern Conference table.

  New England have won just three of their last seven games in front of their supporters and know a win will see them move up from 12th in the standings, along with games in hand on many of the surrounding sides. 

  PLAYERS TO WATCH:

  New England – Cucho Hernandez

  Cucho Hernandez scored his third career MLS hat-trick in the Crew’s win over Kansas City on Saturday, with all three coming within his last 20 games.

  The Colombian is just the ninth player in MLS history to score three hat-tricks in a span of 20 games.

  Columbus Crew – Giacomo Vrioni

  It looks set to a battle of both side's goal-scoring forwards, with Giacomo Vrioni looking to continue his hot streak for Nancy's side. 

  Vrioni scored both of New England’s goals against Cincinnati on Saturday, the first time a Revolution player has scored more than one goal in a game this season.

  MATCH PREDICTION: COLUMBUS CREW WIN

  The Crew come into the encounter in much the better form, having won five of their last six league matches (L1) following their win over Sporting Kansas City. 

  However, New England also boast an impressive winning streak of their own. Porter's side have won four consecutive matches, having previously won just four of their previous league matches dating back to the beginning of September last year (D4 L14).

  And it was the Crew who emerged victorious in the side's last meeting. The win over New England last October ended a string of five straight draws between the sides. Columbus have lost only one of their last 12 against New England (W5 D6) dating back to 2018.

  OPTA WIN PROBABILITY

  New England - 27.1%

  Draw - 23.9%

  Columbus Crew - 49%

• 'I knew it could be good' - Sabitzer proud after earning Austria top spot

  Marcel Sabitzer is proud of not only his winning goal, but also the strength Austria showed in their 3-2 victory over the Netherlands on Tuesday.

  Ralf Rangnick's side were drawn into a group including pre-tournament favourites France, the Netherlands and Poland, and few expected them to come out on top.

  However, after narrowly losing their opening to Les Bleus, Austria beat Poland 3-1 before Sabitzer struck the winner – his first goal at the European Championships – against the Netherlands to see them finish first in Group D.

  With a last-16 tie against one of the best third-place teams still to come, Sabitzer is confident in Austria's togetherness.

  "I got the ball deep, I looked up to see if someone was free in the middle, but I got the impression that [the Netherlands] had more men there. In the past, the left foot has often helped me, so I thought that was the moment I could give it a try," Sabitzer told reporters.

  "As soon as the ball left my foot, I knew it could be good.

  "We are all footballers who want to win games, and that is our objective in every game. And if you have moments where things are a bit more difficult, and it goes back and forth, then the question is how does the team react to that.

  "You can be proud of the unity we have, the mentality we have on the pitch ... we used our strengths, the goal was very nicely worked. So many Austrians who watch us in the stadium trust us, and we want to give them something back."

• Chile 0-1 Argentina: Super sub Martinez sends Albiceleste to Copa America quarter-finals

  Lautaro Martinez struck a late winner as Argentina beat Chile 1-0 to secure their place in the Copa America knockout stages with a game to spare.

  The reigning champions looked like they would have to settle for a point on a frustrating night at the MetLife Stadium, having failed to turn their superiority into the game's opening goal.

  But substitute Martinez, who also netted from the bench in his nation's opener against Canada, finally broke Chile's resolve when he lashed home two minutes from time.

  It moved Lionel Scaloni's side onto six points at the Group A summit, three points ahead of Canada, who beat Peru 1-0 earlier in the day. A draw against Peru in their final game will now be enough to secure top spot.

  Argentina dominated the first half with 13 unanswered shots, yet just three of those were on target. One of them saw Julian Alvarez fire straight at Claudio Bravo from close range in the 22nd minute.

  Lionel Messi also went close to scoring in the 36th minute. La Albiceleste's skipper let fly with a fizzing 25-yard attempt that clipped the outside of Bravo's left post, while Erick Pulgar almost turned Nahuel Molina's cross beyond the Chile goalkeeper two minutes later.

  La Roja had Bravo to thank for keeping Argentina at bay, as the reigning champions continued to carry the greater attacking threat after the break.

  The veteran stopper beat away Molina's fierce strike within five minutes of the restart, and just after the hour mark, he produced a superb reflex save to tip Nicolas Gonzalez's drive onto the crossbar.

  With the breakthrough still eluding the world champions, Scaloni bolstered his attack by introducing Angel Di Maria and Martinez for the final 17 minutes.

  Chile had increased their own attacking threat by registering their first attempts on goal in the contest, with Rodrigo Echeverria calling Emiliano Martinez into action on both occasions.

  Yet, there was to be a late twist in Argentina's favour when an 88th-minute corner broke kindly for Martinez, who reacted quickest to fire into the roof of the net and send La Albiceleste through to the quarter-finals.

  Persistence pays dividends for Argentina

  The history books would have suggested Argentina should have fancied their chances against Chile.

  This is epitomised by the fact they are now unbeaten after 90 minutes in the last 13 meetings, winning eight of those, but that does not tell the full story.

  Seven of those eight victories have only been by a single-goal margin and, of course, they lost on penalties in the Copa America final showdowns of 2015 and 2016.

  Though they dominated most of this contest and registered 22 shots to their opponents' three, just the one goal was enough once more, with both of Martinez's strikes from the bench in this competition coming in the 88th minute.

  Argentina progress to the Copa America knockout stages for a 14th consecutive time, excluding when they withdrew from the 2001 tournament.

  Toothless Roja see resistance broken

  Chile looked set to frustrate Argentina once again at the Copa America and hold out for a second successive clean sheet.

  Their defensive resolve - along with an inspired performance by Bravo between the sticks - looked like it would remain firm and keep the reigning champions at bay, until Martinez's late intervention.

  What will be more concerning for La Roja is the fact they have now gone four successive Copa America matches without scoring, while having to wait until the 72nd minute for their first attempt on goal.

  That is something they need to address quickly ahead of their crucial final Group A clash with Canada, in which a victory could still see them snatch second place and a quarter-final spot.