Charlotte FC will look to bounce back from last weekend's defeat when they welcome unbeaten Columbus Crew to Bank of America Stadium in the MLS on Sunday.
The hosts have four points from four matches while the visitors have 10 points from the same number of games.
Match preview
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Charlotte FC have suffered two defeats in a row after going down 2-1 to Nashville SC at Geodis Park last Saturday.
The Crowns conceded two goals within eight minutes in the first half but halved the deficit before half time through Brecht Dejaegere. However, they were unable to complete the comeback as the second half failed to produce any goals.
Former Aston Villa manager Dean Smith has had a mixed start to life as Charlotte's head coach, with his first four MLS matches yielding four points.
His tenure began with a 1-0 win over New York City, followed by a 1-1 draw with Vancouver before their first defeat at the hands of Toronto.
The successive defeats have seen them drop to 11th place in the Eastern Conference, a position they will be keen to improve upon in their next game.
They won their last home game against Sunday's opponents - their only victory in five meetings against them - having also lost once and drawn the remaining three games.
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After lifting the title last year, Columbus Crew have shown no signs of slowing down this year, remaining unbeaten in four matches.
The Crew put in a professional performance last time out, putting three goals past the New York Red Bulls while conceding none to secure their third win of the campaign.
Wilfried Nancy's side are currently second in the Eastern Conference, behind Inter Miami only on goal difference, but have played one fewer game than the Conference leaders.
Unbeaten in their last four away games across all competitions, Columbus will hope to extend this run with a first victory on the road over Charlotte.
Since the end of 2023, the Crew have picked up points in ten consecutive regular season matches, failing to score in only one of their last 29 MLS matches (a 2-0 loss to the Houston Dynamo in August 2023).
Team News
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The home side will remain without the services of Ben Bender, Tyger Smalls, Brandon Cambridge and Brandt Bronico, who are all sidelined with injuries.
Enzo Copetti is questionable for this clash as he is currently nursing a thigh injury that kept him out of last weekend's loss to Nashville.
Liel Abada is yet to feature since completing his move from Scottish Premiership champions Celtic and is one of the two Charlotte players currently away on international duty with Israel, alongside Jere Uronen who is also away with with Finland.
Alexandru Matan has missed the last two encounters for Columbus, and he looks set to miss this one as well due to a thigh injury.
The Crew are also missing up to five players due to the international break, with goalkeepers Patrick Schulte and Nicholas Hagen representing USA U-23 and Guatemala respectively while Taha Habroune, Aidan Morris and Jacen Russell-Rowe are also away with their countries.
With these players away, this leaves room for the likes of Evan Bush, Derrick Jones and Cole Mrowka to play from the start.
Charlotte FC possible starting lineup:
Kahlina; Byrne, Malanda, Privett, Diop; Dejaegere, Westwood, Urso; Vargas, Tavares, Copetti
Columbus Crew possible starting lineup:
Bush; Moreira, Camacho, Amundsen; Farsi, Jones, Nagbe, Yeboah; Rossi, Mrowka; Hernandez
We say: Charlotte FC 1-2 Columbus Crew
Columbus are showing everyone why they were last year's champions, looking rock solid in their opening four matches. Charlotte, on the other hand, are struggling to find the net and get the required result.
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