The Columbus Crew will hope that the international break does not slow down their momentum as they get set to host the Chicago Fire on Saturday at Historic Crew Stadium.
The defending MLS Cup champions have won two consecutive matches heading into this fixture, while Chicago are near the bottom of the Eastern Conference standings with just one win and a draw through their first seven games.
Match preview
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Saturday will be a special night for the Columbus faithful as they play their final match at Historic Crew Stadium, a stadium that has given their supporters many fond memories, including the site of their 2020 MLS Cup triumph, where they upset the Seattle Sounders 3-0.
It has taken longer than we all expected, but the reigning MLS Cup champs seem to be rounding into form, handing a robust New York City FC side their first loss at Yankee Stadium and then scoring twice in the first 21 minutes to defeat Toronto FC 2-1.
Those victories are an encouraging sign for a team that won only one of their first five matches in 2021 and failed to score in their opening two games.
Manager Caleb Porter called their victory against Toronto the best performance of the season for his team, praising their aggressiveness and intensity in an impressive showing.
The bad news for other MLS teams is that it seems that the Crew still have a few gears they can tap into, which can make them look even better than they already are.
They might need to find another gear in the weeks to come as they will follow up this match against the Fire with some challenging encounters, including road games against the Philadelphia Union and Austin FC, before hosting the New England Revolution at the New Columbus Crew Stadium.
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For the Fire, it has been a miserable 2021 campaign so far with just four points from their opening seven games, as they are tied with FC Cincinnati for last in the Eastern Conference table.
After winning their first game of the year, 1-0 over Inter Miami, Raphael Wicky saw his team waste several goalscoring opportunities against CF Montreal, eventually conceding a goal in the 87th minute and losing 1-0.
The hope is that the international break can help them recharge their batteries as they look to turn their season around against a team that they have not beaten in five straight regular-season meetings.
They have outshot their opponents 39-10 in their last two games, but they only have one win to show for it, a clear indicator that they need to be better in the final third if they are to dig themselves out of their current hole.
Chicago are the lowest-scoring team in MLS with just four goals this season, three from Luka Stojanovic and one in their opening match from Robert Beric.
Having only two clear goalscoring threats has made it very easy for opposing defences to key in on those players without worrying about anyone else.
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Team News
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The Crew are starting to get healthy, but there are still numerous players that could be miss out this weekend, including Perry Kitchen and Milton Valenzuela, who both have hamstring injuries.
Winger Kevin Molino is still dealing with a muscle injury, and midfielder Aidan Morris has been out since the middle of April with a knee injury.
Striker Gyasi Zardes notched the game-winner for his team in their last outing against Toronto, his first goal of the season and his 50th with the club across all competitions.
Chicago will be a little shorthanded in the midfield as Przemyslaw Frankowski is representing Poland at the Euros, and Gaston Gimenez is a part of the Paraguay squad who are currently playing in the Copa America.
Right-winger Stanislav Ivanov is probably still a few weeks away from being healthy after his knee surgery in March, and reserve goalkeeper Kenneth Kronholm has been out since last year with a knee injury.
Midfielder Alvaro Medran has struggled to fill the void left when Djordje Mihailovic left to join CF Montreal last off-season.
Columbus Crew possible starting lineup:
Room; Afful, Jonathan, Williams, Santos; Artur, Nagbe; Espinoza, Zelarayan, Matan; Zardes
Chicago Fire possible starting lineup:
Shuttleworth; Sekulic, Omsberg, Calvo, Navarro; Aliseda, Medran; Herbers, Stojanovic, Gutierrez; Beric
We say: Columbus Crew 2-0 Chicago Fire
Chicago have not beaten the Crew in Columbus since a 2-1 defeat back in June 2013, and while they have created more chances and competed harder in their last three matches, they still lack depth upfront and one of their top scoring threats, Robert Beric, has been struggling to score.
The top players for the Crew are starting to find their game, and along with a capacity crowd to see them play at Historic Crew Stadium for one final time, all signs point to a Columbus victory.
Top tip
Data Analysis
Our analysis of all available data, including recent performances and player stats up until an hour before kickoff, suggested the most likely outcome of this match was a Columbus Crew win with a probability of 43.54%. A win for Chicago Fire had a probability of 30.36% and a draw had a probability of 26.1%.
The most likely scoreline for a Columbus Crew win was 1-0 with a probability of 10.72%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 2-1 (8.93%) and 2-0 (7.72%). The likeliest Chicago Fire win was 0-1 (8.63%), while for a drawn scoreline it was 1-1 (12.41%). The actual scoreline of 2-0 was predicted with a 7.7% likelihood. Our data analysis correctly predicted that Columbus Crew would win this match.
