Columbus Crew vs Philadelphia Union Prediction: Can't trust Philadelphia away from home

The Leagues Cup semi-final on August 21, 2024, is therefore expected to be a game full of action, considering that both Columbus Crew and Philadelphia Union are in good form. The Columbus Crew will have home-field advantage at Lower.com Field, where they looked solid this season as a team, having lost just once in 2024. Their last loss at home was against FC Cincinnati; however, they still remain unbeaten against non-Ohio teams for over a year. Historically, the Philadelphia Union has had very little joy in Columbus, having not won there in over eight years.

Columbus Crew has been inspiring, particularly during the knockout phase, following up a strong win over Inter Miami with a really dominant performance against Sporting Kansas City. But their quarterfinal against New York City FC was tight; they had to win on penalties. Columbus has been clinical in attack, with an average of 2.33 goals per game in its last six matches, and BTTS has come in at a very high percentage during that time.

The Philadelphia Union arrives into this game with an undefeated record in their last six matches while playing stellar defense, conceding only 0.67 goals per game in that period. And they went extra time and a penalty shootout in their quarterfinal with Mazatlan FC. But Columbus hung in there pretty well, and the Philadelphia attack has been good enough, even though they have been featured a bit more in lower-scoring matches than Columbus has been lately.

In the last 20 meetings, Philadelphia Union won 9, Columbus Crew won 6 and 5 matches ended in a draw.

H2H Streaks

Philadelphia Union is unbeaten in 7 consecutive matches

5/7 matches ended with more than 2.5 goals

4/5 matches ended with more than 4.5 cards

With Columbus holding a good home record and Philadelphia poor at Columbus, the Crew holds the slight advantage in progression. However, if one considers Philadelphia's strong defense and experience of tight games, this may just turn out to be an even affair. It should be a very competitive game with action at both ends but may still see Columbus Crew scrape through for a win and into the final.

• Columbus Crew to Win at 1.69 Odds
• Columbus Crew to Win or Draw and Over 2.5 Goals at 1.81 Odds
• Columbus Crew Win 2-1 at 8.50 Odds