Columbus Crew vs New York City FC Prediction: A thrilling Encounter

The upcoming MLS fixture of Columbus Crew against New York City FC is in all respects going to be yet another entertaining match with either team striving hard for crucial points as the regular season advances. While Columbus Crew are lying 3rd in the Eastern Conference table and have lately been in forceful form, New York City FC still lying 5th, have been showing glimpses of resolve and inconsistency.

Columbus Crew are in a remarkable vein of form, as they managed to win each of their last six matches. In that respect, the recent 1-0 home success against strong opponents like Philadelphia Union underlined their current solid defense and the ability to get decent results. Notably, Columbus have kept four consecutive clean sheets, which says it all about how well the backline has been marshaled so that the opponents would find very little space to open them up.

Offensively, the Columbus crew has been prolific; their matches always tend to see a high goal count. In the last seven matches, six have seen over 2.5 goals, showing how well Columbus has been attacking. Much more is the fact that they have been quick out of the blocks, first to score in eight of their last ten matches and often leading at halftime. It has been a key factor for their recent successes.

Meanwhile, New York City FC has had a rockier streak of late. Its recent 2-2 home draw against Chicago typified its inconsistency at the back, with the team now having conceded in five games on the trot, but NYCFC has remained competitive, scoring in all five of these games and proving it still has an attacker that can bring massive firepower.

Despite these defensive lapses, NYCFC tends to start games well, scoring the opening goal in four of their last five games. This could be a critical factor since they also face a Columbus team that usually tends to score early. NYCFC will need to firm things up defensively if they are to challenge a Columbus team in such fine form.

Historically, Columbus Crew have come out on top in this fixture, registering nine wins to seven of New York City. The most recent meeting between both sides played out a 1-1 draw in regular time before Columbus eventually won 4-3 on penalties in the Leagues Cup. A result that underlines the narrow way most of their recent meetings have ended.

Although Columbus has not been beaten in any of the last five matches against NYCFC, they have conceded in each of the five. Both teams have scored in all of the last five, and this has usually been a feature of their clashes. New York City often starts on the front foot in these games as such. They have taken the lead in six of the last seven meetings.

The form that Columbus Crew is in at this moment-most of all, their defensive stability and attacking efficiency-finding the net and keeping the lead-have made them enter the match with the tag of favorites. Nevertheless, NYCFC scores the first goal for most matches involving the two teams, and their competitive nature in H2H matches sees them not being written off.

A solid Columbus defense, coupled with the fact that they do know how to take charge of a match from the get-go, should see them edge out New York City, but the visitors are likely to put up a good fight and net at least once.

• Home Win at 1.74 Odds
• Both Teams to Score at 1.60 Odds
• Correct Score 2-1 at 8.50 Odds