Columbus Crew SC vs. New York City FC | 2018 MLS Match Preview

Dylan Butler

Columbus Crew SC vs. New York City FC
2018 MLS Regular Season — Week 27
MAPFRE Stadium — Columbus
Sept. 1 — 8 pm ET
WATCH: ESPN+, MLS LIVE on DAZN (Canada)

New York City FC are looking to keep pace with Atlanta United and the New York Red Bulls atop the Eastern Conference standings, while fourth-place Columbus Crew SC are trying to fend off in-form Philadelphia Union when the squads meet at MAPFRE Stadium on Saturday night.

Both teams are coming off very different draws, with NYCFC relishing their resolve to battle back and tie the Red Bulls despite finishing with nine men last Wednesday at Yankee Stadium, while the Crew looked sluggish in a 1-1 draw at Chicago a day later.

The teams met at Yankee Stadium on July 14, with NYCFC winning, 2-0, to cap a nine-point week, despite playing without the injured David Villa. Jesus Medina broke the stalemate in the 80th minute and Anton Tinnerholm added a 90th-minute insurance goal in that win over the Crew.

Columbus Crew SC

Columbus (11-8-7) needed a late equalizer to secure a 1-1 draw against the Chicago Fire, narrowly avoiding a second consecutive defeat.

Nemanja Nikolic put the Fire in front in the 67th minute, capitalizing on a defensive miscue to score his 12th goal of the season. The lead held until Niko Hansen leveled 20 minutes later on his first goal of the season.

“I think New York has a ton of talent, I know they create a lot of goal scoring opportunities, a lot of shots inside the penalty box,” Crew head coach Gregg Berhalter said. “In David Villa, they have one of the top strikers in the league, if not the best striker in the league, tremendous at being to get a shot off with either foot, off balance defenders, just really class player. Then Maxi Moralez and their wingers, their midfield, to me its a strong team. We know we’re going to have our hands full, but we think we can hurt them as well.”

Suspended: None
Suspended after next caution: M - Artur, M - Federico Higuain
International duty: None
Injury Report: OUT: M - Eduardo Sosa (right knee meniscectomy)

Projected Starting XI
(4-2-3-1, right to left)
GK: Zack Steffen — Harrison Afful, Josh Williams, Jonathan Mensah, Milton Valenzuela — Artur, Wil Trapp — Pedro Santos, Federico Higuain, Justin Meram — Gyasi Zardes

New York City FC

NYCFC (14-6-6) rallied from a goal and two men down for a 1-1 draw with the Red Bulls last Wednesday at Yankee Stadium.

Bradley Wright-Phillips scored his 12th New York Derby goal in the 37th minute, which was followed by a straight red card to Eloi Amagat three minutes later. Villa leveled in the 52nd minute and NYCFC were reduced to nine men when Ebenezer Ofori was sent off in the 72nd minute, but they finished strong and were pleased to earn a draw, hoping that momentum can carry over to facing Columbus on Saturday.

“Columbus is a team who demands from us focus and concentration on every single pass, every single play because they play really well, maybe the best team in our conference with the ball because they are able to play two or three different ways,” head coach Dome Torrent said. “We have to be focused on that.”

Suspended: M - Eloi Amagat, M - Ebenezer Ofori
Suspended after next caution: M - Tommy McNamara
International duty: None
Injury Report: OUT: M - Yangel Herrera (ankle surgery), D - Cedric Hountondji (hamstring injury), D - Alex Callens (knee injury), M - Jesus Medina (hamstring injury), F - Jo Inge Berget (undisclosed injury)

Projected Starting XI
(4-3-3, right to left)
GK: Sean Johnson — Anton Tinnerholm, Maxime Chanot, Sebastian Ibeagha, Ben Sweat — Alex Ring, Kwame Awuah, Maxi Moralez — Ismael Tajouri-Shradi, David Villa, Valentin Castellanos

All-Time Series

Overall: Columbus Crew SC 2 wins, 15 goals … New York City FC 3 wins, 19 goals … 3 draws
At Columbus: Crew SC 1 win, 10 goals … NYCFC 1 win, 10 goals … 2 draws
Last meeting at Columbus: Columbus Crew SC 2, New York City FC 3 (April 29, 2017)