Columbus Crew have made an unbeaten start to this year's MLS campaign, winning twice while drawing their other two matches, and they will look to continue that on Saturday, when they welcome Nashville SC to the New Crew Stadium.
Nashville have not started so well, having not recorded a victory in their last three matches after a positive result on the opening day, which has left them sitting 12th in the Western Conference.
Match preview
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Caleb Porter's side have shown good quality in the final third during their first four matches, having netted a league-high 10 goals in that time, but they could only manage one last time out, meaning that they had to settle for a draw.
Crew must have thought that they were heading for their first defeat of the campaign last time out, when New York Red Bulls' Tom Barlow opened the scoring just six minutes from time, but the visitors rescued a 1-1 draw thanks to Darlington Nagbe's 95th-minute equaliser.
Saturday's hosts will be glad to be back on home soil, having started the season with a 100% record at the New Crew Stadium, while they have managed to collect just two points from a possible six on their travels.
Porter will be looking for his side to be more defensively resilient this weekend, having not kept a clean sheet in their last three matches, putting pressure on the forwards to net more goals to secure maximum points.
A team's home record can be decisive in their final position at the end of the season, meaning that the longer Columbus can continue their winning run on home soil, the more chance they will secure a playoff place later this year.
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The fixture list has not been kind to Nashville, who have to play their first eight games of this season away from home, and the toll of that has already started to show in their last two matches.
Gary Smith's side recorded back-to-back defeats after a 2-1 loss against Real Salt Lake last time out, despite dominating that game in terms of possession and chances created.
The international break has allowed Nashville to rest from travelling for two weeks, before another four games on the road.
Nashville have already shown that they can perform away from home, they just need to be more clinical with their opportunities in the final third.
Last season, Nashville recorded just four wins away from home, but they managed to pick up nine points from draws on their travels, and that could prove to be the difference between places in the table, meaning that they could just attempt to protect a point this weekend.
With Columbus in good form, especially on their own patch, Smith's side will have to be wary of their threat and perhaps will opt to give up some possession to hit the hosts on the counter-attack.
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Team News
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A whole host of players are expected to be absent from Columbus' squad, including Isaiah Parente, Jake Morris, Josh Williams, Kevin Molino and Sean Zawadzki.
That list of absentees will not stop Porter naming the same side, though, as there are no new injury concerns since the last outing, meaning that Miguel Berry can continue to lead the line for the hosts.
Attacking midfielder Lucas Zelarayan is the early top goalscorer for Columbus, and he will look to continue his good form, with Yaw Yeboah and Derrick Etienne operating either side of the number 10.
Nashville midfielder Dax McCarty will be forced to sit out of this weekend's encounter through suspension, after receiving two yellow cards in the space of three minutes in stoppage time against Salt Lake.
Walker Zimmerman offers an attacking threat from the heart of defence for the visitors after netting his first goal of the campaign last time out, while striker Teal Bunbury will be looking to open his account this weekend.
Columbus Crew possible starting lineup:
Room; Santos, Dagenek, Mensah, Moreira; Nagbe, Artur; Etienne, Zelarayan, Yeboah; Berry
Nashville SC possible starting lineup:
Willis; Romney, Zimmerman, Miller; Lovitz, Godoy, Davis, Muyl; Mukhtar, Leal; Bunbury
We say: Columbus Crew 2-0 Nashville SC
With Columbus in good form on home soil, and Nashville showing weaknesses on their travels, the hosts are favourites to take three points this weekend.
Nashville will offer an attacking threat, but the travelling is starting to take its toll and that is something Crew must take advantage of on Saturday.
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 56.01%. A draw had a probability of 23.7% and a win for Nashville SC had a probability of 20.27%.
The most likely scoreline for a Columbus Crew win was 1-0 with a probability of 12.06%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 2-0 (10.4%) and 2-1 (9.73%). The likeliest drawn scoreline was 1-1 (11.27%), while for a Nashville SC win it was 0-1 (6.53%). The actual scoreline of 0-1 was predicted with a 6.5% likelihood.
