Columbus Crew head coach Wilfried Nancy's main message to players and fans ahead of Game 2 against the New York Red Bulls in the MLS playoffs was not to panic.

The Crew, the MLS Cup holders, lost 1-0 in Game 1 at Lower.com Field, having beaten the Red Bulls 3-2 on the road on Decision Day little over a week beforehand to finish five places above them in the Eastern Conference.

They also had plenty of chances to get level in their playoff opener, but were kept out by great goalkeeping.

“They did what is Red Bulls style,” Nancy told the Crew's official website.

“I think that we had many, many chances so we should score at least one goal. I don't forget that they had the run in behind that was clear, and maybe they could score, but I think that we can score a minimum of one goal.

“Listen, we attacked the box, they defended well. I think that in terms of finishing we could have been better at certain moments, but we're going to address certain things.”

The result on Tuesday means that Game 2 at Red Bull Arena is now a playoff eliminator for the Crew, but the coach was not going to make major changes to their approach.

“It doesn't change,” said Nancy.

“The message that I have is to stay calm. Stay calm because again, the game was the game that we wanted to do, except the finishing and also the goal that we conceded.”

Red Bulls head coach Sandro Schwarz was not getting carried away with the result either, despite leading 1-0 in the series and hosting Game 2.

“This is one step and we have to continue this and prepare very seriously for Sunday, the next game in our stadium,” he told a press conference.

The Red Bulls' victory at Lower.com Field constituted the first big shock of the playoffs and they have an opportunity to create another, knowing victory would knock Columbus out.

But the magnitude of the task at hand was not lost on Schwarz.

“What I can say is we need everyone in our stadium, everyone in our stadium to support the whole team, because it's a big opportunity,” he said.

“It's a big game on Sunday. We must prepare these days now, for a good recovery, good video meeting, and good video session.

“What we must adapt in some moments and then on Sunday is kick-off. We need everyone in the stadium to create this atmosphere, the special atmosphere, which you need against Columbus.”

PLAYERS TO WATCH

New York Red Bulls - Lewis Morgan

Morgan leads the goalscoring charts for the New York Red Bulls with 13 goals in MLS this season.

Six of those goals have been the first of the match and another opener in this fixture could be the beginning of the end for their opponents' playoff ambitions.

Columbus Crew - Cucho Hernandez

Hernandez finished the regular season as the Crew's top scorer with 19 goals in MLS, one behind Lionel Messi and four back from top scorer Christian Benteke.

He rounded off with six goals in his final six matches, while he had six shots on goal against the Red Bulls in Game 1.

MATCH PREDICTION: COLUMBUS CREW

The Crew's three-match winning streak was snapped last time out, but they were MLS Cup champions in 2023 and finished second to Inter Miami in the Eastern Conference this season.

Their defeat in Game 1 was just their seventh loss in 48 matches in all competitions in 2024. Columbus have not lost back-to-back matches since May 2023, while their last away defeat came in July.

The Red Bulls are winless in seven straight home games (D4 L3), which is their longest such run at home since 2004-05.

OPTA WIN PROBABILITY

New York Red Bulls - 26.2%

Draw - 23.5%

Columbus Crew - 50.3%

Wilfried Nancy insisted that Columbus Crew’s record MLS win tally achieved in their last game was secondary ahead of their final game before the playoffs.

The Crews’ 4-0 win over New England Revolution before the international break was their 18th of the season, while also setting a new best of 69 goals scored in regular-season play.

Nancy’s side are guaranteed second in the Eastern Conference and will play this weekend’s opponents, New York Red Bulls, in the first round of the playoffs.

The Crew head coach lauded his players for their contribution to the season, saying: “Listen, this is not easy, but this is the challenge. The challenge is, yes, we have few players who played a lot, it's normal, but everybody knows their role, I would say.

“The idea is also to be honest with the players. After that, in terms of results, I don't know, but the performance for me is really important. I'm really happy when I can see any kind of player that I can put in and they bring something. For me, this is the key point.

“[Saturday], this is not about New England, this is not about the opposition - this is about the fans. This is about the people who try to fight to keep the club. I'm really pleased for that.”

NYRB, meanwhile, come into the encounter on the back of a 2-1 defeat to Atlanta United, but have already guaranteed their spot in the postseason.

Despite the loss, head coach Sandro Schwarz was pleased with his side’s display, but acknowledged they must be more clinical in the final third.

"We had the penalty situation then, and we scored two times," Schwarz said. "But for me, the behaviour after that was good, the behaviour that we are fighting together, that we have the energy, but we need this energy at the beginning, directly in the game."

And Red Bulls defender Sean Nealis is relishing the opportunity of facing Columbus, believing a win will give the group positive momentum moving forward.

"That's what you want as a player, as a competitor, you want to go up against the best," Nealis said. "And they're defending champs. They had a great year last year. They had some great games this year, earlier in the year, they beat us, so we want to kind of avenge that.

“And I think if we end up playing them, we're looking forward to that. They're a great team but we're confident in ourselves, and we'll be ready for the challenge when the time comes."

PLAYERS TO WATCH

NYRB – Lewis Morgan

Morgan enters the final match of the season with 18 goal contributions in 2024 (13 goals, five assists).

No Red Bulls player has tallied 20 goal contributions in a single regular season since Bradley Wright-Phillips (28) and Kaku (20) did so in 2018.

Columbus Crew – Alexandru Matan

Matan scored his first hat-trick with Columbus on Saturday, the second Crew player with a hat-trick this season after Cucho Hernandez.

This is the second time in team history that two Crew players have scored a hat-trick in a single season (Edson Buddle and Ross Paule in 2004).

MATCH PREDICTION: COLUMBUS CREW WIN

While the Crew are favoured by Opta’s data-led simulations, The Red Bulls have lost only four of their last 27 home matches against Columbus in all competitions (W17 D6) dating back to September 2003.

NYRB have scored at least once in 26 of those 27 matches, including in 21 straight, last failing to score at home against the Crew in 2006, while they have also lost only eight times all season, with only four teams having fewer defeats in 2024.

However, Schwarz’s side face a tough task stopping the Crew. Columbus’ win over New England on Saturday was the team’s seventh game with at least four goals this season. Only three teams in MLS history have scored at least four goals in more matches in a single season.

OPTA WIN PROBABILITY

NYRB – 26.3%

Draw – 23.6%

Columbus Crew – 50.1%

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%

Wilfried Nancy has called for cohesion and understanding from MLS decision-makers after the Columbus Crew were forced to play with midfielder Sean Zawadzki in goal in their 4-0 defeat to the Seattle Sounders.

Abraham Romero saw red at the end of the first half, and with both Patrick Schulte and Nicholas Hagen away on international duty, Zawadzki found himself wearing the gloves.

Romero was the Crew’s only goalkeeper in the matchday squad as players from Columbus’ reserve side can only be called up four times before signing a professional contract. 

Nancy asked MLS to allow an additional call-up for a backup goalkeeper but that request was rejected, leaving the Crew head coach furious at the full-time whistle.

“We are at 39 matches played,” Nancy said. “We were mandated to have three goalkeepers on the teamsheet. This is what we did. We had to use a call-up for a friendly game against Aston Villa.

“Why I'm not happy before the game and all the week it happened, I was not happy about that because there is a rule, as you know, we can use only four times, four call-ups [for] one player from the reserve team who has a contract.

“You know the issue that we had with the goalkeepers with Evan Bush. We tried to anticipate, adding a fourth goalkeeper, knowing that we could have a situation like this.

“When we asked before the game to have another call-up for our goalkeeper for the reserve team, they said no, knowing that this game [against] Seattle we were supposed to play in [May].”

Cincinnati, meanwhile, bounced back from their defeat to Inter Miami in style, comfortably dispatching CF Montreal 4-1 at the TQL Stadium last time out.

Pat Noonan’s side know the magnitude of their encounter this weekend, as a defeat would allow their opponents to leapfrog them in the Eastern Conference standings into second, with the Crew also having a game in hand.

While the pressure is seemingly on the hosts, Noonan is relishing the challenge of facing the Leagues Cup winners on home soil.

“Really pleased with the response from the last performance and just the overall play from our guys,” Noonan said.

“I thought on both sides of the ball they were outstanding – maybe a little bit fortunate on some of those goals – but I am very pleased with the outcome and how the guys stepped up.”

“We know the challenges that'll be ahead of us. The group can go win a game, it'll be a challenging match, but one that you have to be excited about.”

PLAYERS TO WATCH

Cincinnati – Luciano Acosta

Acosta has scored five times for FC Cincinnati against the Crew, tied for the most goals scored by a Cincinnati player against any opponent in MLS play.

The Argentine has also netted five goals against Toronto FC, with Brandon Vazquez also striking five times against Inter Miami.

Columbus Crew – Diego Rossi

With Columbus’ array of attacking options, Rossi has been the standout, registering 19 goals and eight assists in all competitions, netting six times in their Leagues Cup success.

But across his two spells in MLS with the Crew and Los Angeles FC, the Uruguayan has failed to score against five opponents, with Cincinnati being one of them.

MATCH PREDICTION: COLUMBUS CREW WIN

After starting the season winless in four on the road (D3, L1), Columbus have won seven of their last nine regular-season away games (L2). The seven away victories are the most the Crew have ever recorded in a single regular season.

However, they come into the encounter off the back of a 4-0 loss to the Sounders, their heaviest defeat since 2018. The Crew also have not lost consecutive matches in all competitions since a three-match losing streak last May.

Cincinnati also boast an impressive home record against this weekend’s opponents. They are unbeaten in five straight regular-season matches on home soil against the Crew (W2 D3) but did lose last season’s Eastern Conference Final at TQL Stadium.

OPTA WIN PROBABILITY

Cincinnati – 29.4%

Draw – 24.7%

Columbus Crew – 45.9%

John Herdman insists that Toronto FC’s defeat to Orlando City must be a turning point in their MLS campaign ahead of facing in-form Columbus Crew this weekend.

Toronto had taken an early lead through Derrick Etienne but were compounded to a fifth straight defeat that leaves them in eighth place in the Eastern Conference, two points behind Nashville SC. 

Head coach Herdman acknowledged his side’s poor recent form, and ensured conversations would be had with his players and staff to ensure they return to winning ways sooner, rather than later.

“This has to be a turning point for the club tonight,” Herdman said. “I said that to the players after the game, ‘It has to be the turning point.’

“There's going to be some hard conversations in the next two days starting with all of us looking at ourselves in the mirror for that 20-minute period.

“What happened there? And why is it happening? Why do we fall into that trap game after game after game?”

However, they will have to do so against a Columbus side in a rich vein of form having earned a third straight triumph with their 2-0 win over Nashville last time out.

The Crew currently occupy third place in the Eastern Conference and are one of three sides chasing runaway leaders FC Cincinnati and Inter Miami.

Head coach Wilfried Nancy commended his team’s recent displays and said he intends to do everything possible to keep that feel-good feeling in the camp before welcoming Toronto to the Lower.com Field.

“I'm going to talk about the present moment because it's a fact: They are really good,” Nancy said of his side.

“They are really good. We are going to try to do everything to help them to stay like this because

for me, it's a key point. It's a key point about the way we want to play.”

PLAYERS TO WATCH

Columbus Crew – Cucho Hernandez

There is arguably no one better in the MLS right now than Cucho Hernandez as he kept up his impressive recent form for the Crew.

Since returning from injury, the Colombian has registered six goals and four assists in his last five matches, with his most recent coming in their 2-0 win over Nashville as he set up Christian Ramirez to open the scoring at the Lower.com Field.

Toronto FC – Federico Bernardeschi

Federico Bernardeschi continues to be an attacking force for Toronto, and he will be needed on top form if his side are to halt their current five-game winless run.

The Italian has been involved in 14 goals in his last 10 MLS matches (eight goals, six assists), including an assist against Orlando City last time out.

MATCH PREDICTION: COLUMBUS CREW WIN

Columbus are expected to emerge victorious, with Nancy’s side winning 76.7% of Opta’s data-led simulations heading into the encounter.

The Crew have an impressive home record, losing one of their last 30 home matches in all competitions dating back to May 2023 (W20 D9). In that streak, 12 of those victories have been by a margin of two or more goals.

Columbus also boast an impressive record over their opponents and are unbeaten in their last five league matches against Toronto. Before this run, Columbus had won just two of their previous 14 meetings with Toronto dating back to 2016.

Toronto, however, will be out to cause an upset. Their current five-game losing run is the seventh losing streak of five or more matches since the start of the 2021 season.

OPTA WIN PROBABILITY

Columbus Crew – 76.7%

Draw – 13.9%

Toronto FC – 9.4%

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%

Sporting Kansas City head coach Peter Vermes wants to see a better defensive display when they travel to Columbus Crew in the MLS on Saturday.

Sporting KC sit second from bottom in the Western Conference, having won just three of their 19 games so far.

After back-to-back losses to LA Galaxy and Real Salt Lake in which they conceded four goals in both, Vermes admitted they needed to rectify the situation as soon as possible.

"I can't deny the fight of the guys, but defensively, it's too soft," he said. "Unfortunately, it's similar to what happens in a lot of games.

"We can be fighting back in a game and give away a nothing goal. There's a ton of chances that could put us way ahead, but we can't be giving up the goals that we give up. That's it; that's the game."

Columbus, meanwhile, are right in the mix in the Eastern Conference, sitting sixth with 27 points.

A 2-1 defeat to Inter Miami snapped their four-match winning streak in the MLS, but head coach Wilfried Nancy is confident they can quickly put that result behind them.

"It has been good games, good performances," head coach Wilfried Nancy said. "[The last game] was also a good performance, but we were not good at certain moments. This is again something that we did well. We have grown a lot regarding these kinds of games."

PLAYERS TO WATCH

Columbus Crew – Cucho Hernandez

Cucho attempted 10 shots in the Crew's defeat to Inter Miami on Wednesday, his third game with at least 10 shots since making his MLS debut in July 2022.

All other players in MLS have three total games with 10+ shots in that time (Raul Ruidiaz, Hany Mukhtar, Julian Carranza, one each).

Sporting Kansas City – William Agada

Agada scored two of Kansas City's three goals on Wednesday, his fifth multi-goal match for Sporting. Only five players have recorded more multi-goal games in the team's history.

MATCH PREDICTION: COLUMBUS CREW WIN

This will be the Crew's first regular-season home match since losing to FC Cincinnati on May 11. Columbus are winless in four straight MLS home matches after winning 12 of their previous 14 home league games.

Kansas City have lost nine of their last 10 regular-season matches (W1), including losing six in a row on the road in league play. This is the first time in the post-shootout era (since 2000) that Sporting have lost nine times in a span of 10 such matches.

However, Kansas City have lost just one of their last 12 matches against Columbus (W7 D4) dating back to October 2012, though three of the last four meetings have ended in draws. This will be the first meeting between the sides in Columbus in one day short of five years (June 23, 2019).

OPTA WIN PROBABILITY

Columbus Crew – 64.2%

Draw – 19.1%

Sporting Kansas City – 16.7%

Oscar Pareja admires the fight Orlando City are showing as they prepare to welcome Columbus Crew to Inter & Co Stadium on Saturday.

Orlando are unbeaten in their last three matches, including a late victory over San Jose Earthquakes last weekend.

They are now within one point of the playoffs in the Eastern Conference, sitting 10th on 16 points.

Pareja praised his team for being able to hold onto results in recent weeks, but he now wants to translate that into consistent success at home.

"I see a team that is growing," Pareja said. "Their confidence is growing.

"The way we're playing is much better in terms of efficiency on the other side of the box, and we're proud. The thing that we're most happy with is seeing them try to do the right thing.

"They've got through difficult moments together. The way they fight every single game is always the same. We're more knowledgeable now that we're getting results, but I haven't seen one game where they gave up.

"Now we need to go and do it at home in front of our fans. Nothing has changed, we just haven't been very good in some home games, but we will be."

Columbus sit five points above Saturday’s opponents, having won back-to-back games against CF Montreal and the Chicago Fire.

Going into the third of their successive away matches, head coach Wilfried Nancy hailed the Crew’s spirit.

"It's true that last year I didn't like the spirit that when we were playing away - it was not the same spirit," he said.

"Now, they try to play their game home or away. This is something that for me, this is growth. This is something that has been better."

PLAYERS TO WATCH

Orlando City – Pedro Gallese

Gallese has kept clean sheets in two straight matches after Orlando managed just two in their first 11 regular season matches in 2024.

The Lions have never kept a clean sheet in three straight league matches within a single season before.

Columbus Crew – Diego Rossi

Rossi managed a goal and two assists in Columbus’ win over Chicago last Saturday. It was his sixth MLS match with at least three goal contributions (including playoffs) but his first with the Crew.

MATCH PREDICTION – DRAW

Orlando City have won just one of their first seven home matches this MLS season (three draws, three losses), with their six points won equalling the fewest they have ever recorded in their first seven home matches of a season (also in 2015).

Meanwhile, Columbus have lost only one of their last eight away matches in MLS (four wins, three draws incl. playoffs), including winning their last two in a row on the road. The Crew have not won three consecutive away matches in the league since a four-match run between August and September 2015.

Columbus knocked Orlando out of last season’s MLS Cup Playoffs with a 2-0 road win in the Conference Semifinals. That win was just the Crew’s second in their last 11 meetings with Orlando dating back to October 2018 (one draw, eight losses).

OPTA WIN PROBABILITY

Orlando City – 34.5%

Draw – 26.8%

Columbus Crew – 38.7%

Wilfried Nancy questioned why limits should be placed upon his Columbus Crew side after they reached the CONCACAF Champions Cup final.

Having taken a narrow 2-1 lead into the second and away leg, Columbus then impressively won 3-1 in Monterrey to secure their place in the final against Pachuca in June.

Columbus are also sitting fifth in the MLS' Eastern Conference, and Nancy believes his side can keep pushing the boundaries of their potential.

"For me, this is about trying to be limitless, and this value for me is so important," Nancy told reporters. "Why are we going to put limits on what we do?"

Nancy's men turn their attentions back to domestic football this weekend, hosting FC Cincinnati on Saturday.

Cincinnati are flying themselves having rattled off three straight MLS victories to leave them second in the East and three points behind leaders Inter Miami with a game in hand.

Despite winning 1-0 at Orlando City last time out, Noonan was not impressed with his side's showing, saying: "I don't think anybody in there is doing cartwheels because of their, and our, performance.

"We won a game on the road and did things well enough to get a win, but didn't perform anywhere near what we know we're capable of.

"Hopefully, we use this as a chance to learn a little bit about ourselves and grow from it and then hopefully, have a good week and a strong performance in Columbus."

PLAYERS TO WATCH

Columbus Crew – Cucho Hernandez

Hernandez leads the Crew for goals so far this season, netting four times in eight appearances. His tally is twice as many as his team-mates have managed, and Hernandez looks the most likely to lead his team's attacking threat this Saturday.

FC Cincinnati – Luciano Acosta

Acosta scored 17 seconds into Cincinnati’s 1-0 win over Orlando last weekend. It was the earliest goal ever scored in a 1-0 win in MLS history, and if his team are to pick up three points again this weekend, another fast start from Acosta could prove helpful.

MATCH PREDICTION – COLUMBUS CREW WIN

Columbus have lost only two of their 13 all-time MLS meetings with Cincinnati (seven wins, four draws), including winning the last two in a row. The Crew have scored multiple goals in 11 of those 13 matches, including each of the last seven in a row (incl. playoffs).

Cincinnati, meanwhile, have won three straight matches in all competitions for the first time since a four-match winning run in May-June last season. Two of those wins have come on the road with Cincinnati winning seven of their last 11 away matches in all competitions dating back to last September.

Columbus are unbeaten in 27 consecutive home matches in all competitions dating back over a year, though, with only two longer home unbeaten streaks in all competitions by an MLS club before, and they look the favourites to claim victory on Saturday.

OPTA WIN PROBABILITY

Columbus – 52.5%

Cincinnati – 21.2%

Draw – 26.3%

Wilfried Nancy was delighted with the spirit and grit his Columbus Crew team displayed as they sealed a 2-1 CONCACAF Champions Cup win over CF Monterrey.

The Crew are in a great position to progress to the Champions Cup final after their first-leg win in midweek.

Now, Nancy will turn his focus to a league clash with his former club CF Montreal, but he stressed his pride with his team for their performance against Monterrey.

“I'm really proud of the guys,” said Nancy.

“Because we did a really good game in terms of when we had the difficult moments, we were together. And when we had the ball, we tried to play our game and we had good opportunities also, and we were able to unbalance them.

“We try to convince [the squad] that when we play high-level sport, it's a game of mistakes.

The idea is no matter what happened, can we find a way to bounce back? So we work on that during the practice, but at the end of the day, you have to live this situation. And I think that we've worked upon in the past. So now they’ve been better and the chemistry is better. And they were able to sort it out.”

The Crew are the reigning MLS Cup champions, though they have drawn their last three league fixtures.

While Columbus sit fourth in the Eastern Conference, Montreal are three points back in 10th place.

PLAYERS TO WATCH

Columbus Crew – Cucho Hernandez

Hernandez scored his 34th MLS goal (including playoffs) in the Crew’s draw on Saturday. Only the Philadelphia Union’s Daniel Gazdag (36) has more goals than Hernández since he made his MLS debut in July 2022.

CF Montreal – Ariel Lassiter

Lassiter put CF Montreal ahead against Orlando on Saturday with an 88th-minute goal, only to see the Lions equalize in stoppage time. It marked just the second time in club history that Montreal scored a go-ahead goal after the 75th minute but failed to win the match, also doing so against the Fire in 2017.

MATCH PREDICTION: COLUMBUS WIN

Montreal have lost 17 of their 25 away matches in all competitions (W5 D3) dating back to the start of last season, being outscored, 56-21, in those games.

Columbus are unbeaten in 17 straight regular-season home matches (W12 D5) following a pair of draws with D.C. United and the Portland Timbers. The only longer run in club history was a 22-match streak in 2008—09.

Columbus won both of their matches against Montreal last season after winning just two of the previous eight (D2 L4). Montreal (2-1 in August 2022) are one of two visiting teams to record a win at Lower.com Field since June 2022.

OPTA WIN PROBABILITY

Columbus Crew – 56.4%

CF Montreal – 18.6%

Draw – 25%