Columbus Crew SC vs. Philadelphia Union | 2020 MLS Match Preview

Dylan Butler

2020 MLS Regular Season – Week 9
Columbus Crew SC vs. Philadelphia Union
MAPFRE Stadium – Columbus
September 2 – 7:30 PM ET

STREAMING: MLS LIVE on ESPN+ in US, on DAZN in Canada

LOCAL TV: FOX Sports Ohio, PHL17

It's a top of the table clash Wednesday night at MAPFRE Stadium when Columbus Crew SC host the Philadelphia Union. Two points separate the teams who occupy the second and third position in the East behind Toronto FC.

Crew SC are coming off a 0-0 Hell is Real derby draw at FC Cincinnati, while the Union blasted D.C. United, 4-1, at Subaru Park Saturday night.

Columbus have won nine of the 13 all-time meetings at MAPFRE Stadium, including a 2-0 victory in the penultimate week of the 2019 regular season, courtesy of second-half goals by Youness Mokhtar and Pedro Santos.

Columbus Crew SC

FC Cincinnati dropped numbers deep defensively, bunkered and made life hell for Columbus in the latest Hell is Real derby. Considering that, coach Caleb Porter had a positive mindset after the match.

"The positive for me is I don’t care who you’re playing, you take a point on the road. The clean sheet, I’m very proud of that, and the back four and in general defensively, we didn’t give them anything," Porter said. "So I thought we executed extremely well. We had a lot of the ball, and that’s our game, and we need to do better at finding at least one goal."

Crew SC also welcomed back goalkeeper Eloy Room, Lucas Zelarayan and Mokhtar from injuries.

Updated team roster
Injury Report:
- OUT: Vito Wormgoor (D) - ankle injury
Suspended: None
Suspended after next caution: None
International duty: None

Philadelphia Union

The Union continued their dominance of D.C. United, scoring three times in the opening 21 minutes en route to a 4-1 rout Saturday night at Subaru Park. Kacper Przybylko struck twice in the first 16 minutes and Sergio Santos made it 3-0 in the 21st minute. Brenden Aaronson tacked onto the lead in the 61st minute as the Union extended an unbeaten streak to seven games in emphatic fashion.

"He played a great game, he dominated tonight and that's what top strikers do in this league," Union coach Jim Curtin said of Przybylko, who captured Major League Soccer Player of the Week for Weeks 7 and 8 of the 2020 MLS season. "We were a little proactive. There was a thought to leave him out there to chase a hat trick, but we also recognize we have a big game against Columbus and wanted to save some legs because he does work so hard on both sides of the ball for us."

Updated team roster
Injury Report:
- OUT: Aurelien Collin (D) - leg injury
- OUT: Kai Wagner (D) - lower leg injury
Suspended: None
Suspended after next caution: Jose Martinez (M)
International duty: None