Making only their second-ever visit to Lower.com Field, the Vancouver Whitecaps will take on the Columbus Crew in MLS action on Saturday.

Columbus dropped down to fifth in the Eastern Conference table with a 5-1 defeat at Inter Miami, while the Caps are back in the Supporters’ Shield lead thanks to a 3-0 triumph over the Seattle Sounders.

Match preview

A two-week break may be just what Wilfried Nancy needed to give his Columbus side a rest and refocus for the second half of the season.

Heading into this contest, the Crew are on a six-match winless run in league play, putting them just three points above the Eastern Conference playoff line.

Their form of late has not been great, but it could be worse, as they have collected four points from a losing position in the second half of their previous six league fixtures.

The Crew are unbeaten in their last four home matches in this competition, suffering just one defeat at Lower.com Field in league play this year (1-0 versus Inter Miami).

Columbus are undefeated in their four regular-season meetings this year against Western Conference opposition, winning those last two games by a 2-1 score.

In their only prior home game against the Whitecaps at Lower.com Field, the Crew came away with a convincing 4-0 triumph, in the season opener of the 2022 league campaign for both teams.

Less than a week after their CONCACAF Champions Cup hammering versus Cruz Azul (5-0 loss), Vancouver were back to their old selves at home to the Sounders.

Jesper Sorensen’s men failed to register a single shot against the Mexicans, but against Seattle they did not give up a single effort on target.

That defeat to Cruz Azul was the only one this team had suffered since the start of April, with the Caps posting back-to-back clean sheets in MLS.

The Whitecaps are the only undefeated team in the league away from home in 2025, conceding a goal or fewer in six of those seven affairs.

Of their league-low 12 goals conceded thus far only four have occurred away from home, two in their previous such match at Real Salt Lake (3-2 win).

Their last away triumph versus an Eastern Conference opponent in this competition dates back to September 2023, when they came back from a goal down to defeat Toronto 2-1.

Columbus Crew Major League Soccer form:

Vancouver Whitecaps Major League Soccer form:

Vancouver Whitecaps form (all competitions):

Team News

In their previous match, the Crew were without goalkeeper Patrick Schulte, who had an abdominal issue, Sean Zawadzki was dealing with a sore knee and Rudy Camacho was sidelined because of a hamstring strain, while Nicolas Hagen is with the Guatemalan national team for the CONCACAF Gold Cup which begins this weekend.

Cesar Ruvalcaba Perez had the only goal for this team against Miami, the first for the American defender in an MLS regular season fixture.

Captain Ryan Gauld missed another match for the Caps last weekend as he continues to recover from a knee injury, Sam Adekugbe is out for the season with an Achilles tear, Sebastian Berhalter and Brian White will be with the US this weekend for the Gold Cup, while Jayden Nelson, Ali Ahmed are with the Canadian team for that competition.

Jeevan Singh Badwal, Daniel Rios and Damir Kreilach all found the back of the net the last time out, while Yohei Takaoka collected his eighth clean sheet, the joint-most in MLS this year alongside Canadian Dayne St Clair.

Columbus Crew possible starting lineup:

Bush; Moreira, Cheberko, Amundsen; Farsi, Nagbe, Chambost, Lappalainen; Rossi, Gazdag; Russell-Rowe

Vancouver Whitecaps possible starting lineup:

Takaoka; Laborda, Veselinovic, Blackmon, Ocampo; Priso, Cubas, Ngando; Sabbi, Rios, Vite

We say: Columbus Crew 1-3 Vancouver Whitecaps

The Crew who have looked vulnerable at the back against sides with attacking depth which will be a problem against Vancouver who boast plenty of talent even with some key players away.

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

Written by
Joel Lefevre

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