Columbus Crew vs. New England Revolution Preview

These teams have met 83 times in all competitions since both were original MLS sides in 1996. Last year the Crew beat New England 1-0 in the Eastern Conference Final in Ohio and went on to win the MLS Cup. This season they met on May 16 at Gillette Stadium in New England, with the Revolution taking a 1-0 win on a goal from substitute Adam Buksa.

Crew Need to Finish

After appearing to find their stride, the Crew had a very disappointing week to end June. They lost 1-0 at Philadelphia mid-week and drew 0-0 at expansion side Austin FC on Sunday. They put five shots on target, all by Lucas Zelarayan and Gyasi Zardes, against Austin but couldn’t find the back of the net.

Against Philadelphia, the Crew dominated possession at 62% and outshot the Union but still couldn’t score. After putting two goals on the board in three straight games, they enter Saturday’s contest in a 226-minute drought.

With Eloy Room between the pipes, the Crew has allowed just seven goals all season. The only time MLS opposition has scored more than once this season was a 2-0 loss to Toronto back on May 12.

Saturday’s game is big for the Crew for multiple reasons. Not only does it open the new stadium with a full capacity expected, but it also kicks off a stretch of four straight games in Ohio. The Crew travels to FC Cincinnati next weekend before hosting NYCFC and Nashville. They also need to close the gap on New England before Zardes heads to the Gold Cup to play for the USMNT.

Revolution Scoring Consistently

New England suffered a rare loss on Sunday with a 2-1 setback at FC Dallas. They lead the Eastern Conference at 7-2-2 through 11 games, and they have scored 11 goals in the last five games. The Revs will be happy to see Historic Crew Stadium go away as they won just eight times there in 36 matchups through the years.

New England hasn’t lost consecutive games this season, and they have only been shut out once, a 2-0 loss at Nashville on May 8. They have nine different goal scorers this season, led by Gustavo Bou with five and Buksa with four. Captain Carles Gil is the playmaker with seven assists.

Matt Turner had a good start to the season with three clean sheets before the international break. But the four-year veteran keeper has allowed two goals in three straight games to end June.

Betting Analysis

The Crew are moneyline favorites at +115, with the Revs at +200, and a draw is +240. The over of 2.5 goals is -130, with the under at +108. Columbus scoring first is -140, with the Revs scoring first at +115, and a scoreless draw is +1100.

The Crew have dominated this series historically with 38 wins, and 13 draws plus a 7-1-2 (W-D-L) record against New England over the last 10 matchups. The under has also hit in seven of the last 10 Crew games. Columbus needs Zardes and Zelarayan to lead the way as they did in the final home game at Historic Crew Stadium.