Preview:New York Red Bulls vs Columbus Crew - prediction, team news, lineups

On Saturday, the New York Red Bulls can extend their MLS winning run at Sports Illustrated Stadium to three games when they host the Columbus Crew.

A 1-0 defeat versus Charlotte FC has New York narrowly above the post-season line on goal difference, while the Crew are hanging onto the final automatic first-round place despite a 2-1 loss at home to the New England Revolution.

Match preview

The Red Bulls are still in a playoff position, but the margins are now razor-thin after a third successive domestic away defeat for them last weekend.

They will fancy their chances of remaining above that line on Saturday, with this team on a two-match winning run in MLS at Sports Illustrated Stadium, collecting points in eight of those previous nine contests.

Another win on Saturday would give them 11 at home in the competition this year, making it the most they have accumulated in a single campaign since 2018 (14).

Seven times this season, Sandro Schwarz has seen his side fail to score outside Sports Illustrated Stadium, though they have five clean sheets in New Jersey this year.

Last year’s MLS Cup runners-up have won three of their four regular-season home games this year against Eastern Conference sides that are currently above them in the table, with their only such defeat coming versus Inter Miami in July (5-1).

Two of their last three competitive home fixtures with Columbus ended in a victory for the Red Bulls, who eliminated them from the post-season on penalties in the opening round a year ago.

Out of nowhere, the Crew have gone from a Supporters’ Shield contender to a team barely hanging on to a first-round playoff spot in the Eastern Conference.

Six points currently separate them from the Chicago Fire on the outside of the post-season line, while they lead New York City FC by just one point for seventh, and the latter have a game in hand on them.

Columbus are on a three-match winless run in MLS, with just one triumph in their previous five league fixtures, 2-1 at home to DC United in July.

Five of their remaining seven domestic affairs take place outside Lower.com Field, where Wilfried Nancy’s men have only claimed one victory in their last eight affairs.

So far this season, the Crew have dropped nine points away from home in MLS when scoring first, while three of their four road wins occurred when they had conceded the opener.

In three of their previous four visits to Harrison, Columbus have been able to avoid defeat in normal time, winning their previous away match against the Red Bulls 3-2 last year.

New York Red Bulls Major League Soccer form:

New York Red Bulls form (all competitions):

Columbus Crew Major League Soccer form:

Columbus Crew form (all competitions):

Team News

Last Saturday, a thigh strain kept Lewis Morgan out of the Red Bulls lineup, while Anthony Marcucci and Cameron Harper were unavailable due to knee injuries.

We saw one new face in the New York starting 11 from matchday 27 to 28, with Mohammed Sofo coming into the fold in place of Serge Ngoma.

On the Columbus side, captain Darlington Nagbe missed their previous clash with a torso issue, Mohamed Farsi had a pelvic strain and Rudy Camacho sat out because of a thigh problem.

Daniel Gazdag had their only goal versus New England, the second for the Hungarian in the campaign since joining them from the Philadelphia Union in April.

New York Red Bulls possible starting lineup:

Coronel; D. Nealis, Eile, Parker, Edwards; Stroud, Edelman; Ngoma, Forsberg, Carmona; Choupo-Moting

Columbus Crew possible starting lineup:

Schulte; Herrera, Moreira, Zawadzki, Amundsen, Arfsten; Rossi, Chambost, Jones, Gazdag; Aliyu

We say: New York Red Bulls 1-1 Columbus Crew

When these teams clash, it is usually a pretty tight affair, and even though the table suggests we will see two desperate sides on Saturday, both are lacking in confidence, which is why we do not anticipate either taking many risks.

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