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Two of the top three teams in the Eastern Conference standings get together this week as the Columbus Crew return home to face the red-hot Philadelphia Union. With 17 points, the Crew are one point behind Toronto, who plays on Tuesday, and two points ahead of the third-place Union. This contest at MAPFRE stadium in Ohio kicks off at 7:30 p.m. ET Wednesday on ESPN+.
Since the Union joined MLS in 2010 these teams have met 25 times, all in the regular season, with Columbus winning 13, the Union winning nine and three draws. Last season both teams got a home shutout with Crew winning 2-0 in September and Union winning 3-0 in March. The last time Philadelphia won at MAPFRE Stadium was in 2016 with the Crew taking three home wins and a draw since then.
Philadelphia Union Outlook: Take the Offense On the Road
Everything went great for the Union on Saturday night as they thrashed DC United 4-1 at home, their second straight win. Kacper Przybylko scored twice in the first 16 minutes and Sergio Santos made it 3-0 in the 21st minute. Brenden Aaronson scored the fourth in the 61st minute and while Andre Blake didn’t secure the clean sheet, he did pick up the win in goal.
The Union have no true road wins this season in three games, though they do have two draws. In two of those road games, at FC Dallas in February and at New England August 20, they were shut out. Meanwhile the Union have five goals in their two home games this season and they scored nine times in the neutral site games at the Orlando tournament.
With the Saturday brace, Przybylko leads the Union with four regular season goals though Sergio Santos has five total, three in the MLS is Back Tournament knockout rounds. Aaronson has also scored twice in the regular season while no Union player has more than one assist in those eight games. Blake has been among the best keepers in MLS this year with eight goals allowed in eight games, three clean sheets and 32 saves.
Columbus Crew Outlook: Rediscover the Offense
The good news for the Columbus Crew on Saturday is that three injured players returned to the lineup including star midfielder Lucas Zelarayan. The bad news is that it didn’t help the team rediscover the offense as the Crew went scoreless for the second straight game with a 0-0 draw against Hell is Real rival FC Cincinnati. The draw prevented the Crew from jumping back into first place and was a stark contrast from their 4-1 thumping of Cincinnati in Orlando last month.
Zelarayan, fellow midfielder Youness Mokhtar and starting keeper Eloy Room, all returned to the lineup after missing multiple games and the Crew had 61% of the possession. However the East’s third-best scoring offense has now gone 182 minutes without a goal since the 3-0 home win over Chicago on August 20.
The Crew are 2-0 at MAPFRE Stadium this year with 1-0 and 3-0 shutout wins. Gyasi Zardes leads the team with six total goals while Zelarayan has three and Mokhtar has two. Room has allowed just one goal in five starts this season with 10 saves and four clean sheets as the Crew have the least amount of goals (2) allowed in MLS and the best goal differential (+10)..
Philadelphia Union at Columbus Crew Betting Lines By A1pph.com
Philadelphia Union to win: +245
Columbus Crew to win: EVEN
Draw: +260
Over/Under: 2.5 goals (Over -105, Under -115)
Recent form favors the Union in this one but the road/home splits for both teams evens things back out. With the Crew having Zelarayan and Mokhtar back in the lineup for 67 and 55 minutes respectively gave the team a boost. Now they have more practice days to get the offense back on track.
Time to get the winning bet! Head to https://www.howtobecomeabookie.com/the-site-that-will-boost-your-bookmaking-operation/ and bet the Columbus Crew to win (Even).
