Columbus Crew vs Los Angeles FC Prediction: LAFC will win the trophy!

The MLS 2023 season comes to a final halt with an exciting encounter between the best teams from the Eastern and Western Conferences.

Columbus Crew will go to battle for the MLS Cup against reigning champions Los Angeles FC and this promises to be a very fiery clash.

Columbus Crew emerged as the best team in the Eastern Conference after beating FC Cincinnati 3-2 (AET), while Los Angeles FC beat Houston Dynamo 2-0 to book their place in this final match.

Columbus Crew

The Columbus Crew come into this match with one objective and that is to win. They have come a long way to give up now and we can expect them to put up a fight for the crown.

Despite ending the MLS season in 3rd place on the Eastern Conference table, Columbus Crew have found their way to the cup final after a tough playoff round.

They were brilliant in the playoffs, winning 4 out of 5 playoff games. They defeated Atlanta United on 2 legs, and lost 1. Then they went on to beat Orlando and FC Cincinnati in single leg games.

In their last match against FC Cincinnati, The Crew were 2 goals down in the first half. And 2 goals from Alan Powell (OG) and Diego Rossi in the second half brought them level at full time. And then Columbus Crew went on to win the game 3:2 in extra time with Christian Ramirez scoring the winning goal in the 115th minute. The win over FC Cincinnati guaranteed their place in this cup final against Los Angeles FC.

Columbus Crew will have a point to prove in this clash against Los Angeles FC. They lost both games against Los Angeles FC during the regular season and they can't afford to suffer another defeat here.

Los Angeles FC

Los Angeles FC have somehow managed to ascend to the height of MLS football despite having a lackluster season. At the end of the season, they were 3rd on the western conference table and 8th on the MLS table and that automatically qualified them for the playoffs tournament.

They had an excellent record in the playoffs, winning all 4 games in the tournament. They won games against Vancouver Whitecaps on both legs and then they defeated Seattle Sounders and Houston Dynamo in single leg games.

Their last game against Houston Dynamo ended in a 2:0 win for Los Angeles FC. Ryan Hollingshead opened the scoring for Los Angeles FC in the 44th minute and in the 80th minute Franco Escobar scored an own goal to seal the victory for Los Angeles FC.

Los Angeles FC would be eager to end the season on a high when they take on Columbus Crew. They defeated Columbus Crew twice already during the regular season and they hope to carry on that record in this final game.

Head to Head

Los Angeles and Columbus Crew have played only 4 matches against each other according to the head-to-head record. Los Angeles won 3 of the 4 matches, while Columbus Crew won 1.

Analysis and Predictions

Los Angeles FC deserve all the applause for making it to this stage after their very mediocre season. And now they have a real chance to grab a trophy at the end of the season. Columbus Crew have also shown a lot of resilience to get into this stage and the 3-2 win over FC Cincinnati is a proof of the mentality in the team.

Los Angeles FC are coming back to this stage once again after winning the trophy last season and they have a lot of experience going into this clash against Columbus Crew. I believe the Los Angeles FC team would go on to pick up the trophy at the end of regular time because they are far more experienced than the Columbus Crew team.

• Team 2 League winner at 2.19 Odds
• Over 2.5 Goals at 1.84 Odds
• Correct Score 1:2 at 11.00 Odds