Columbus Crew SC vs. New York City FC | 2017 MLS Match Preview

Sam Stejskal

Columbus Crew SC vs. New York City FC
2017 MLS Regular Season
MAPFRE Stadium – Columbus, Ohio
Saturday, April 29 – 7:30 pm ET
WATCH: MLS LIVE

Two of the East’s most talented attacking squads are set to meet for the first time in 2017 on Saturday night, with Columbus Crew SC and New York City FC both aiming for a positive result after losing two of their last three matches.

Columbus will be facing off with a New York opponent for the second straight week. Crew SC dropped the first leg of their Big Apple doubleheader, falling 2-0 at the Red Bulls last Saturday night. While they’re coming off of a defeat, Gregg Berhalter’s bunch have been excellent at home this year, posting a 3-0-1 record at MAPFRE Stadium, with their wins coming against heavyweights Portland, Toronto and Orlando.

Columbus will have to deal with at least one, and potentially two, significant absences on Saturday. Influential defensive midfielder Artur will miss the match after breaking his wrist at the Red Bulls, while defender Alex Crognale’s status is up in the air after leaving in the first half of last weekend’s loss due to injury.

“It’s a shame that in the first minute that we had to substitute Artur,” Berhalter said after Saturday’s match. “He’s been doing great so far and we were looking forward to seeing how he was going to react in this game.

“It’s unfortunate, he was injured pretty badly. It’s a broken wrist, it doesn’t look good.”

NYCFC aren’t exactly rolling into Saturday’s match, either. After winning 2-0 at Philadelphia on April 14, they were once again victimized by Cyle Larin last weekend, with the star striker scoring a pair of goals to lift Orlando to a 2-1 win over NYCFC at Yankee Stadium.

Columbus Crew SC

They’re dealing with a couple of injuries in the back, but Columbus are spoiled for options in the attack. On the whole, that’s a huge positive. For one player, however, it’s created a real headache.

Crew SC winger Kekuta Manneh has yet to play a minute since Columbus sent Tony Tchani and a boatload of allocation money to Vancouver in exchange for him last month. He didn’t even travel with the team to New York last week, prompting the 22-year-old to tweet the now-deleted hashtag “#rockbottom” from the team’s training facility last Saturday.

“I’m used to traveling with the team, whether I’m going to be involved in the game or not, and I’m not used to being left behind,” he said earlier this week. “So it’s hard; I’m not going to lie. I’m going through a tough time right now. But it’s a professional environment. You don’t control anything; all you control is how hard you work and your performance. Maybe it’s not been at the level that I need to be at, and that’s on me as well.”

Berhalter said that Manneh is “getting close” to finding the field for Crew SC, who have been starting Justin Meram and Niko Hansen on the wings and leaving 2015 MLS Best XI selection Ethan Finlay on the bench in recent weeks. We’ll see if the youngster gets any run this weekend against NYCFC and normal winger Rodney Wallace, who filled in for injured left back Ronald Matarrita last week.

Suspended: NONE
Int’l Duty: NONE
Injury Report: OUT - D - Gaston Sauro (left PCL surgery, out for season), M - Ben Swanson (right ankle surgery, out for season), D - Connor Maloney (concussion), M - Artur (left wrist surgery 4/22, out 3 weeks), QUESTIONABLE:D - Jonathan Mensah (right thigh strain), GK - Brad Stuver (right elbow strain), D - Alex Crognale (ankle sprain); M - Dilly Duka (calf contusion)

Projected Lineup (4-2-3-1): Zack Steffen – Jukka Raitala, Nicolai Naess, Jonathan Mensah, Harrison Afful – Wil Trapp, Mohammed Abu – Justin Meram, Federico Higuain, Niko Hansen – Ola Kamara

Notes: There have been an average of 4.6 goals per game in the previous five meetings between Columbus and NYCFC ... Columbus is unbeaten in their last six home games (5-0-1), outscoring their opponents 13-4 in that stretch.

New York City FC

The schedule is starting to become a story for NYCFC, who are about to embark on a brutal stretch of games that could play a huge role in determining where they finish in the Eastern Conference. Saturday’s match will be the first in a run of five of six matches on the road for NYCFC.

There isn’t an easy match in the stretch, with New York hosting Atlanta in the Bronx next week before playing at Dallas, RSL, Orlando and Atlanta before returning home again. Points will likely be at a premium during the tough run, and, given their uneven recent form and an illness currently bothering star striker David Villa, NYCFC would probably be just fine with a win or a draw on Saturday.

Suspended: NONE
Int’l Duty: NONE
Injury Report: OUT: F - Khiry Shelton (hamstring injury, out 4-6 weeks), D - Ronald Matarrita (high ankle sprain, out 4-6 weeks); QUESTIONABLE: F - David Villa (illness)

Projected Lineup (4-3-3): Sean Johnson – Ethan White, Maxime Chanot, Alexander Callens, Rodney Wallace – Alexander Ring, Andrea Pirlo, Maxi Moralez – Jack Harrison, David Villa, Tommy McNamara

Notes: There have been an average of 4.6 goals per game in the previous five meetings between Columbus and NYCFC ... NYCFC snapped a three-game road losing streak with their 2-0 win at Philadelphia on April 14 ... NYCFC is averaging 5.6 shots on target per game this season, most in MLS.

All-Time Series

Overall: Columbus 2 wins (11 goals), New York City 1 win (12 goals), 2 draws
At Columbus: Columbus 1 win (8 goals), New York City 0 wins (7 goals), 2 draws