New York City FC are looking to stem the tide of draws as they travel to Columbus Crew for an MLS fixture on Sunday. Columbus have been near perfect at home lately and should have too much for the struggling visitors.
Columbus Crew are coming off a 2-2 draw with struggling Inter Miami in their previous MLS fixture. They took the lead twice through Darlington Nagbe and Christian Ramirez but were pegged back both times, conceding an injury time equaliser.
The result means Columbus Crew are now unbeaten in their last seven matches across all competitions, claiming five wins in that run. Manager Wilfried Nancy will be mostly disappointed to have thrown away the lead as it highlights a shaky defence that has kept just one clean sheet in the last 10 matches across all competitions.
Having been on the road last time out, Columbus Crew are returning to Lower.com Field where they have won their last five matches. The goals have flowed freely for the Crew in that run as they have scored two or more goals in all five matches.
New York City FC are also coming off a draw as they were held 1-1 at home by Charlotte last time in the MLS. They fell behind early in the encounter and had to wait till nine minutes from time before Braian Cufre netted the equaliser.
Results like that have been too frequent for New York City, who have drawn six of their last seven matches across all competitions. These runs often have an adverse effect and Nicholas Cushing’s men are currently 11ith in the Eastern Conference, seven points off the playoff places.
A small positive for New York City is that their only win amidst the recent run of draws was a 1-0 away victory at Montreal. However, that was also their first triumph in 10 away matches having played out five draws and suffered four defeats in that run.
How the bookies view it
Columbus Crew have been installed as overwhelming favourites among the bookies with a home win priced at 5/6 with 10bet. A victory for New York City is valued at 10/3 with William Hill while Paddy Power is offering odds of 14/5 for a draw.
Head to head
Columbus Crew and New York City have claimed nine wins each and seven draws from 25 previous matches. While the reverse fixture back in June ended in a 1-1 draw, the Crew have won the last four meetings at Lower.com Field.
Players to watch
As always Columbus Crew will be looking to Christian Ramirez to provide the spark in attack having scored eight MLS goals this season. With five of those goals coming in the last six matches, the striker could be backed to maintain that scoring run at 9/5 with William Hill.
With Columbus not particularly convincing at the back, New York City will be looking to capitalise. Although he has just three goals this season, Talles Magno is usually the furthest player forward and could be worth keeping an eye on at 19/2 with Paddy Power.
Anything else catch the eye?
The last meeting between Columbus Crew and New York City at Lower.com Field produced over 3.5 goals, which is priced at 11/5 by Paddy Power. Over 2.5 goals is valued at 4/5 by bet365, who is also offering odds of 3/4 on both teams to score.
Columbus Crew have scored in both halves in their last four home matches and can be set for a repeat at 17/10 by Unibet.
This MLS match between Columbus Crew and New York City FC will be played on Jul 9, 2023 and kick off at 00:30. Check below for our tipsters best Columbus Crew vs New York City FC prediction. You may also visit our dedicated betting previews section for the most up to date previews.