Two teams who have made blistering starts to the 2025 MLS season will do battle at Lower.com Field on Sunday as Columbus Crew and Charlotte FC square up against each other.
Sitting second and fourth in the Eastern Conference table respectively, the hosts and their visitors have emerged as early frontrunners to win the Supporters' Shield.
Match preview
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Columbus Crew wasted no time flying out of the blocks as they opened their league journey with consecutive wins over Chicago Fire and New England Revolution before playing out a 0-0 draw against Houston Dynamo in matchday three.
A CONCACAF Champions Cup exit against Los Angeles FC back in March threatened to disrupt the Crew's fine start, but they have since responded in superb fashion to keep their domestic momentum going.
Wilfried Nancy's men just about did enough to edge out San Jose Earthquakes 2-1 last time out, courtesy of goals in either half from Sean Zawadzki and Maximilian Arfsten, either side of Josef Martinez's leveller.
With 21 points on the board from a possible 30, Columbus Crew are just one point shy of Cincinnati at the top of the Eastern Conference standings, where they ended up runners-up to Inter Miami last season.
As well as being defensively solid given their tally of just eight goals conceded, Sunday's hosts have also stepped things up a notch on the offensive end of late, scoring two goals in four of their last five matches.
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Charlotte completed one of the biggest moves of the last MLS transfer window with the acquisition of Wilfried Zaha, signalling their ambitions for the new season, which has been a case of so far so good for the North Carolina-based outfit.
However, Dean Smith's men came away empty-handed from their most recent outing against New England Revolution for what was only a first defeat in four matches off the back of three straight victories.
The Crown were in the ascendancy for large spells of the contest but were unable to make their dominance count before things went from bad to worse 13 minutes from time when Carles Gil delivered a sucker punch.
Having missed the opportunity to move level on points with Cincinnati at the top of the pile, the Crown remain fourth in the East with the joint second-fewest goals conceded (eight)—alongside this weekend's opponents.
Despite their bright start to proceedings this term, Sunday's visitors have often struggled on the road, winning just one of their four matches, although that solitary victory did come in their most recent away outing against CF Montreal.
Team News
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Rudy Camacho has been inactive for Columbus Crew since the turn of the year due to a thigh problem, and the Frenchman is still a fair way off making a return to action.
After a lengthy spell on the sidelines, Nicholas Hagen recently made his comeback, although it remains to be seen if he will be handed a starting role right away.
Lassi Lappalainen has recuperated from a hip injury and is also back available for the home side having been named on the bench against San Jose Earthquakes last time out.
Brandon Cambridge, Souleyman Doumbia and Jahlane Forbes will not play any part for Charlotte this weekend as they continue to nurse hamstring injuries.
The away side will also be without the services of Nimfasha Berchimas and Nathan Byrne, who are currently battling foot and neck problems respectively.
Columbus Crew possible starting lineup:
Schulte; Arfsten, Amundsen, Moreira, Farsi; Zawadzki, Nagbe, Chambost; Rossi, Russell-Rowe, Gazdag
Charlotte FC possible starting lineup:
Kahlina; Ream, Malanda, Privett, Scardina; Biel, Westwood, Bronico; Zaha, Agyemang, Abada
We say: Columbus Crew 2-1 Charlotte FC
Each of the last six meetings between the teams has yielded at least two goals, and we are anticipating another exciting affair here.
That said, we are also backing the home side to carry the day when all is said and done.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Adepoju Marvellous
