The Columbus Crew (7-15-6, 27 pts.) caps off a three-game, nine-day stretch at FC Cincinnati (5-18-3, 18 pts.) on Sunday, Aug. 25, as the Black & Gold look to rebound from Wednesday’s 1-0 loss at New York City FC.
Wednesday’s setback was the Club’s first defeat in six matches while Cincinnati comes into Sunday winless in their last six, including a four-match home losing streak.
The two sides last met on Aug. 10 as part of a 2-2 draw at MAPFRE Stadium, with FCC’s Darren Mattocks and Emmanuel Ledesma scoring in the 16th and 23rd minutes, respectively, before Gyasi Zardes got the Crew on the board in the 45th minute before Pedro Santos struck from distance in the 62nd.
Notably, each sides’ most recent opponent was NYCFC, with FCC falling to the Cityzens, 4-1, at home while the Crew’s one-goal defeat marked its ninth such loss of the season.
Ahead of Sunday's match, both sides’ attack numbers come out fairly even. The Crew’s 29 goals slightly supersede FCC’s 26, as does Columbus’ total shots (245 to 216), though both average about 1.0 goals per game.
Additionally, the average time of match of Crew SC’s first goal lies at 34:10, compared to Cincy’s timestamp of 32:49, while Columbus maintains a slight advantage in average corner kicks (6.1 to 4.2).
The biggest difference lies on the defensive end, with Crew SC conceding 42 goals compared to FCC’s 61, which stands nine more than the second-highest total in Major League Soccer (Colorado Rapids – 52).
Six rotations were made between the Crew’s Starting XI on Aug. 17 vs. Toronto FC and the midweek match at NYCFC, most notably led Romario Williams and David Guzman starting in place of Zardes and Wil Trapp, as both did not play, while Santos came off the bench to start the second half.
The start marked Williams’ first since joining Crew SC during the summer transfer window, while defender Connor Maloney made his third straight start at leftback as the Club awaits the return of left-footed defenders in Waylon Francis and Aboubacar Keita.
Kickoff on Sunday is scheduled for 6 p.m. ET on FS1. Crew SC supporters can also tune in to the live English play-by-play radio broadcast on 97.1 FM The Fan or listen to the Spanish call on ColumbusCrewSC.com/liveaudio.
