Columbus Crew vs Philadelphia

The first MLS fixture on Sunday will see the Columbus Crew trying to close the gap between themselves and the Eastern Conference-leading Philadelphia Union at Lower.com Field.

A 3-1 win over Atlanta United on Wednesday vaulted the Crew up to fourth in the East, six points below Philly, who defeated the Chicago Fire in midweek, 1-0.

Match preview

Having a dozen days off in between matches did not seem to impact Columbus on Wednesday as they were in control against the Five Stripes for most of that encounter.

Wilfried Nancy’s men have won consecutive games in MLS and this weekend can equal their longest winning run of the 2025 domestic campaign (three matches).

Columbus meanwhile, have collected at least a point in their previous six home matches played in this competition while emerging victorious on four of those occasions.

Of the 32 goals that the Crew have scored in MLS this year, 20 have taken place at Lower.com Field, while they have given up a goal or fewer in three of their last four home fixtures.

On six occasions so far this year Columbus have been in front at the interval of an MLS game, winning five of those games, while failing to lose in that scenario.

The Crew have never lost a match played against the Union at Lower.com Field, winning this exact fixture last season in a thriller by a narrow margin of 3-2.

One of the best defensive units in the league this year put forth another textbook display on the back end in midweek, posting an eighth clean sheet in the 2025 regular season.

Philadelphia have conceded the second-fewest goals in league play this year (19), allowing a goal or fewer in six consecutive matches in this competition away from home.

Bradley Carnell’s men also have the joint-most road victories domestically to this point of the year (six) already surpassing their total from the 2024 campaign (five).

Try as they might, no one has got the better of the Union in quite some time, with this team, currently on a 13-match unbeaten run across all competitions.

Seven of their league-high 12 regular-season victories in the 2025 campaign have been by just a single goal, four of which took place when they were the visiting team

You have to go all the way back to 2016 to find the previous time they defeated the Crew in Columbus, collecting a 2-1 win against them at Historic Crew Stadium.

Columbus Crew Major League Soccer form:

Philadelphia Union Major League Soccer form:

Philadelphia Union form (all competitions):

Team News

In their midweek affair, Columbus were without Cesar Ruvalcaba Perez due to a sore ankle, Patrick Schulte was sidelined with a torso issue, Rudy Camacho had a thigh strain and Malte Amundsen was sidelined because of a knee injury.

Guatemala face Canada in the quarter-finals of the CONCACAF Gold Cup on Sunday, meaning Nicholas Hagen will miss this upcoming fixture for the Crew, while Max Arfsten is representing the USA on Sunday when they take on Costa Rica.

Canadian striker Jacen Russell-Rowe had a brace against the Five Stripes earlier this week, with the other Columbus goal coming courtesy of Andres Herrera.

Meanwhile, the Union did not have Olivier Mbaizo or Mikael Uhre available on Wednesday due to adductor strains, while Tai Baribo missed their midweek victory as he was stuck in Israel during the international window.

They will be without Quinn Sullivan and Nathan Harriel who are with the US at the Gold Cup, while Danley Jean Jacques and Andre Blake could both be back after Haiti and Jamaica were eliminated from that tournament.

Bruno Damiani converted a 10th-minute penalty for Philly against the Chicago Fire, while Andrew Rick collected a clean sheet, making two stops in the victory.

Columbus Crew possible starting lineup:

Bush; Moreira, Zawadzki, Cheberko; Herrera, Chambost, Nagbe, Jackson; Rossi, Gazdag; Russell-Rowe

Philadelphia Union possible starting lineup:

Blake; Bedoya, Glesnes, Makhanya, Wagner; Vassilev, Bueno, Lukic, Jacques; Damiani, Donovan

We say: Columbus Crew 1-2 Philadelphia Union

While the Crew have made some great strides of late, the Union have been airtight defensively and always seem to do just enough to earn maximum points.

For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.

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