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• Columbus Crew v New England Revolution: Club record points haul down to consistency, says Nancy

  Wilfried Nancy wants his Columbus Crew team to continue their consistency after reaching a club-record points haul in a regular MLS season last time out.

  The Crew’s 3-2 win over Philadelphia Union on Saturday took them to 60 points in the campaign, marking their 17th win of the term, also equalling the club’s single-season record set in 2008.

  Columbus knows that a point will be enough to guarantee second place in the Eastern Conference ahead of the playoffs, with Nancy expressing his delight about his squad’s ability to adapt to this campaign’s hectic schedule.

  “This is the idea – all the time try to grow and seek for improvement,” Nancy said. “That's why I'm really happy about this because we play 46 games.

  “Last year at this moment, we didn't play the same amount of games. We have wins and we have also more points.

  “For me, this is the consistency of what we are able to do, and also, this is a fact that my players want to get better. They accept all the challenges that my staff and I try to give them. For me, I'm really, really happy with that because this is so difficult.”

  At the opposite end of the table, New England’s struggles continued as they fell to a 2-1 defeat to D.C. United, with Pedro Santos and Christian Benteke’s early strikes doing the damage.

  The Revs have already been eliminated from the playoffs and sit just one point ahead of bottom club Chicago Fire ahead of their two final regular-season matches.

  And with a trip to league leaders Inter Miami on the final day, head coach Caleb Porter said that his players have no time to feel sorry for themselves after an underwhelming campaign.

  “I expect the mentality to be good. For me, nothing changes. I think about doing your job and being a pro and having pride at the end of the day,” Porter said.

  “It does not matter whether you are happy or sad, it’s about doing your job. We’re still building for the future. I expect these guys to have a good mentality.

  “I expect them to be motivated and wanting to do well and I expect them to have pride in their profession. I expect the group to show that they want to be here.”

  PLAYERS TO WATCH

  Columbus Crew – Diego Rossi

  In the absence of top scorer Cucho Hernandez, who is away on international duty with Colombia, the Crew have a capable back-up in Rossi, who has 12 goals and eight assists in 32 regular-season appearances this season.

  The Uruguayan has seven goal involvements in his four appearances against the Revs (three goals, four assists), only contributing more goals against the LA Galaxy (11), San Jose Earthquakes (nine) and Houston Dynamo (eight) in the MLS.

  New England Revolution – Giacomo Vrioni  

  In a largely disappointing season for the Revs, Vrioni has been a shining light, scoring nine goals in his 29 MLS appearances this term.

  The Albanian, however, has failed to beat this weekend’s opponents in his four appearances against them (D2 L2), while also failing to score since a 5-0 win over CF Montreal in August.

  MATCH PREDICTION: COLUMBUS CREW WIN

  Columbus are unbeaten in nine straight home matches against the Revolution (W5 D4), though the last three meetings have all ended in draws. Both teams' last win over the other in Columbus came in the playoffs; a 2020 Conference Final win for the Crew and a 2014 Conference semi-final win for the Revolution.

  New England’s minus 29 goal difference (35 scored, 64 conceded) is on pace to be the worst in club history (-20 in 2011). The Revs have allowed more goals in a single season just once before (66 in 1998).

  The Revs' defeat to D.C. on Saturday was the club’s 19th of the campaign, extending a single-season high for the Revolution. They have lost their last four away from home, being outscored, 11-1, in those games.

  OPTA WIN PROBABILITY

  Columbus Crew – 70.9%

  Draw – 16.5%

  New England Revolution – 12.5%

• Vancouver Whitecaps v Los Angeles FC: Sartini hoping to benefit from missing international players

  Vancouver Whitecaps head coach Vanni Sartini believes the international break will benefit his side ahead of welcoming Los Angeles FC to BC Place this weekend.

  The hosts will be without top scorer Ryan Gauld along with Ali Ahmed, Sam Adekugbe, Andres Cubas, Fafa Picault and Pedro Vite as they aim to break into the top seven of the Western Conference and avoid playing in the first round of the playoffs.

  However, Sartini believes that this presents an opportunity for his fringe players to step up against one of the better sides in the division, having seen his side fall to back-to-back defeats since clinching their place in the post-season.

  “It is very important to win,” Sartini said. “Unfortunately, we did not do well in the last couple of games so now this game has become one where we can get back into the top seven and avoid the first round of the playoffs.

  “It’s important to get back to where we have been for the last 30 plus games. We need to reset and good. I think it’s also a good think, I might sound crazy, that we have the international break.

  “We have a lot of players that will need to step up and need to be there, so they come perhaps a little fresher and without the bad memories of the last couple of games.”

  LAFC, meanwhile, come into the encounter on the back of four consecutive wins in all competitions, including their US Open Cup final triumph.

  The Black and Gold know a victory will seal second place in the Western Conference standings after securing a 3-0 away win over Sporting Kansas City, though they too will be without three first-team players for the trip to Vancouver.

  “All in all, we’re happy,” head coach Steve Cherundolo said after their last victory. “They were important points for us. A good performance.”

  “For us to keep getting these results is huge,” said defender Aaron Long.

  “To go as far as we did in Leagues Cup and to go all the way to the end in the Open Cup, and still be fighting for first place in the league is really tough to do.”

  PLAYERS TO WATCH

  Vancouver Whitecaps – Brian White

  In the absence of top scorer Gauld, who is on international duty with Scotland, White will carry Vancouver’s goal threat for the visit of LAFC.

  The American has played more games against this weekend’s opponents than any other team he has faced in the MLS (13), winning four of those (D3 L6), while scoring three times.

  LAFC – Mateusz Bogusz

  Bogusz has 20 goal involvements (14 goals, six assists) in 30 MLS appearances this term, netting a goal against Vancouver in LAFC’s 3-0 win earlier this season.

  The Pole, however, has won just one of his three games against Vancouver (D1 L1), and he will be hoping to get his record into positive numbers this time around.

  MATCH PREDICTION: LAFC WIN

  The hosts are currently on 58 points with two matches left to play this term. They are trying to reach the 60-point mark for the third time in the last six seasons (2019, 2022) while no other MLS team has done so more than once in that time.

  Vancouver have lost only two of their last nine regular-season meetings with LAFC (W4 D3), though one of those defeats was a 3-0 loss against the Black and Gold earlier this campaign.

  The Whitecaps come into the game on the back of consecutive defeats for the first time since June. They have not lost three straight matches in all competitions since the start of the 2023 season.

  OPTA WIN PROBABILITY

  Vancouver Whitecaps – 29.6%

  Draw – 24.8%

  LAFC – 45.6%

• Palmer will become one of the world's best players, predicts Cucurella

  Cole Palmer will be among the very best players in the world if he continues on his current trajectory, believes the forward's Chelsea team-mate Marc Cucurella.

  Palmer enjoyed a magnificent debut campaign in 2023-24 after swapping Manchester City for Stamford Bridge, with his 33 Premier League goal involvements (22 goals, 11 assists) the most of any player.

  After impressing for England at Euro 2024 – where he came off the bench to score in their 2-1 final defeat to Spain – Palmer has picked up where he left off this term, registering 11 goal contributions (six goals, five assists) to once again lead the charts.

  He became the first player in Premier League history to score four goals before half-time in a single game versus Brighton and Hove Albion in September, when he scooped the competition's Player of the Month award.

  Palmer also won England's Player of the Year award for last campaign and Cucurella, who was a key part of the Spain team that defeated the Three Lions in Berlin, believes he is destined for the very summit.

  "If you see him not in his kit you would never in your life say he was a footballer, but then on the pitch... he shoots and it doesn’t seem like he is hitting it hard but he scores," Cucurella said in an interview with The Guardian.

  "He's very different. I don't know how to explain it: he's special. We’re very lucky we have him. 

  "We [Spain] are lucky he didn’t play much in the Euros either because he came on and almost messed it up for us. 

  "If he carries on like this, he'll be among the best. He doesn't have much strength in the air, but if that’s his only problem, then he's all right."

   

  Chelsea are unbeaten in six Premier League games since going down 2-0 to champions City on matchday one, with boss Enzo Maresca winning the competition's Manager of the Month prize for September.

  Though it is still early days for the Italian coach, Cucurella says the Blues have lofty ambitions under him.

  "Our objective has to be to win a trophy," he said. "In the Conference League we can do something good, and the cups. 

  "Arsenal and City have been working in the same way for many years, the same idea, the same players, and I think we’re a bit far away from that. 

  "Liverpool too because it's been the same players. But we can get into the Champions League, that's the key objective."