Preview: Columbus Crew vs Burnley - prediction, team news, lineups

Burnley's second pre-season friendly of the summer will take place at ScottsMiracle-Gro Field on Sunday against MLS outfit Columbus Crew.

The Clarets are building towards the start of their 2026-27 campaign, while Columbus Crew will resume their season against New York City FC on July 22.

Match preview

Columbus Crew boast a record of four wins, four draws and seven defeats from their 15 league matches this season, with 16 points leaving them in 10th spot in the Eastern Conference.

The Black and Golds were last in action on May 24, recording a 2-0 victory over Atlanta United, while they beat New York City FC 1-0 in the US Open Cup on May 20.

Laurent Courtois is currently in charge of the team on an interim basis, and he will lead the side into what is a very interesting friendly against English team Burnley.

Columbus Crew have secured eight major trophies in their history and finished seventh in the Eastern Conference last term, so they will provide strong opposition for Burnley.

The Black and Golds will resume their season against New York City FC on July 22, before also tackling FC Cincinnati before the end of the month.

Burnley, meanwhile, have not yet played their first friendly of the summer, with their clash against FC Cincinnati scheduled for a 12.30am UK time kickoff on Saturday morning.

The Clarets will also take on Real Salt Lake on July 15 as part of their pre-season tour, before tackling Ajax and Espanyol in their final two friendlies of the summer at the end of July.

The start of their 2026-27 campaign comes in the EFL Cup against Notts County on August 8, before facing West Ham United at Turf Moor in their opening game of the new Championship season, with that game set for August 16.

Burnley are preparing for life back in the Championship, having been relegated from the Premier League last season, picking up just 22 points from 38 matches.

Current Genk head coach Nicky Hayden is expected to be appointed Burnley's new head coach in the near future, replacing Scott Parker at the helm, but for now, Mike Jackson remains in charge on an interim basis.

Columbus Crew form (all competitions):

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Team News

Columbus Crew will be without the services of Malte Amundsen, Wessam Abou Ali and Jamal Thiare for the friendly match due to injury problems.

There will be a number of changes throughout the contest, but a strong XI is expected to take to the field for the first whistle, including Diego Rossi, who has scored six times in 16 appearances during the current season.

Daniel Gazdag is also in line for a spot in the final third of the field.

As for Burnley, much will depend on which set of players feature against FC Cincinnati in the pre-season clash in the early hours of Saturday morning.

The same group will be involved here, with Kyle Walker likely to start at right-back.

However, Hannibal Mejbri, Zeki Amdouni, Lyle Foster and Hjalmar Ekdal will all be absent due to their involvement for their countries at the 2026 World Cup.

Columbus Crew possible starting lineup:

Schulte; Moreira, Camacho, Zawadzki; Farsi, Bangoura, Gomes, Arfsten; Habroune; Gazdag, Rossi

Burnley possible starting lineup:

Weiss; Walker, Humphreys, Worrall, Pires; Florentino, Cullen; Edwards, Tresor, Larsen; Flemming

We say: Columbus Crew 2-2 Burnley

Both sides are set to make wholesale changes throughout the contest, which makes it even harder to predict a score, but we are expecting goals in this friendly.

For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.