The Columbus Crew have an opportunity to give themselves some breathing room in the Eastern Conference playoff race on Tuesday when they travel to DRV PNK Stadium to battle Inter Miami.
Miami are five points behind the Crew for the final playoff spot, having lost their previous MLS affair 3-1 to the Chicago Fire, while Columbus were held 2-2 by CF Montreal on Friday.
Match preview
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Maintaining balance is something that manager Phil Neville preached to his team heading into their first encounter of September last weekend, and judging from their performance, that element was missing.
In the Windy City, Miami struggled to break down a well-organized and disciplined Fire defence in what ended up being a third consecutive defeat for the club from South Beach.
All three of those losses were on the road, as the Herons return to their home field unbeaten in four consecutive domestic encounters.
Miami seemed to be missing the presence of a creative midfielder who can change the complexion of a game and provide openings for this team, something they have been better at lately.
While they have not been the most potent side in the league by any stretch, their consolation tally against Chicago tied a club record for the most goals scored in an MLS campaign in franchise history, equalling the mark set last year.
Despite coming out on top in many of their recent home outings, they have not made it easy on themselves, conceding multiple goals on seven occasions at DRV PNK Stadium in 2022.
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The Crew have earned points in 16 of their previous 17 affairs, although their 2-2 draw on the road in Montreal probably felt more like a loss.
Friday's result had a feeling of deja vu for Caleb Porter and his team, who were ahead of Montreal minutes before injury time when everything seemed to go wrong.
Columbus allowed a goal in the 89th and 94th minute to drop two points this past weekend, just over a month after conceding twice to that same Montreal side in early August, in the 88th and 94th minute, suffering a 2-1 defeat, their only one in over three months.
Three of their final five matches will be on the road, where the Crew are unbeaten in eight successive outings, though they lost their only away fixture played in South Beach, dropping a 1-0 decision to the Herons in 2021.
As impressive as their run has been, the Crew have missed numerous chances to pad their playoff lead, leaving 13 points on the table this season when leading in the second half.
Lately, this team have produced their finest quality in the second half, as their last seven goals have come in the final 45 minutes, while they are without a tally in the opening half in five consecutive games.
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Team News
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Gonzalo Higuain had the only goal for Miami over the weekend, his 11th of the season, Bryce Duke leads them in assists with four, while Nick Marsman collected a clean sheet in their only home meeting with Columbus, as the Herons won that outing 1-0, thanks to a goal from their Argentine number 10.
Jean Mota and Ariel Lassiter had the only goals for Miami in their previous home fixture, which ended in a 2-1 win over Toronto, wihile Higuain and Damion Lowe both had an assist on that occasion.
Leonardo Campana will be questionable for this encounter with a quad strain, Robbie Robinson and Brek Shea have hamstring issues and Ian Fray is dealing with a knee injury.
Jonathan notched his second goal of the campaign for the Crew on Friday, Lucas Zelarayan picked up his team-leading ninth of the season, while Steven Moreira and Cucho Hernandez each had an assist.
Luis Diaz had the only tally in their previous meeting against Miami this season, and Eloy Room only had to make one stop for a clean sheet, while one of the four goals scored by Pedro Santos in 2021 came at home to the Herons in a 4-0 victory.
Diaz will miss this match after receiving a straight red card on Friday, Santos has a right thigh injury and Erik Hurtado made his first appearance since a 2-2 draw versus FC Cincinnati, replacing Cucho for the final eight minutes.
Josh Williams replaced Derrick Etienne with 10 minutes to play last time out after sitting out of their 0-0 draw against the Chicago Fire.
Inter Miami possible starting lineup:
Marsman; Gibbs, Sailor, McVey, Yedlin; Mota, Gregore; Taylor, Pozuelo, Vassilev; Higuain
Columbus Crew possible starting lineup:
Room; Sands, Degenek, Jonathan, Moreira; Nagbe, Morris; Etienne, Zelarayan, Artur; Hernandez
We say: Inter Miami 2-1 Columbus Crew
Columbus have been the model of consistency over the past few months, although they have struggled to maintain a high intensity for 90 minutes, something that a desperate Inter Miami team should be able to take advantage of this week.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Joel Lefevre
