On Saturday, the Columbus Crew will visit Yankee Stadium for the first and only time this season to take on New York City FC. Later in the year, NYCFC will take a visit to MapFre Stadium where Columbus will play host. This will be NYCFC's third game in a week after topping the New York Red Bulls on Sunday and the Montreal Impact midweek.
The Columbus Crew are coming off a 4-0 defeat to the LA Galaxy after topping Real Salt Lake a week prior. The win over RSL was the only win the Crew have been able to pick up in their last eight attempts after a hot start to the season. Gregg Berhalter and his men will be looking to steer the ship in the direction it was going in the early parts of the season.
Last Season
The two most recent meetings between these two clubs took place in the Eastern Conference semi-finals last season. Each team won by multiple goals but it was Columbus who advanced on aggregate scoring. They took the first leg at home by a score of 4-1 thanks to four different goal scorers and an early second half NYCFC red card.
As you'd expect, it was David Villa who got things going for NYCFC in the second leg. The forward scored from the spot in the 16th minute to give the home fans hope. Then, in the 53rd minute, Andraz Struna scored to make it 2-0 on the day and to bring NYCFC to within one on aggregate. Unfortunately for NYCFC, those were the only two goals in the game and NYCFC went crashing out of the playoffs.
Team News
New York City FC: The hosts will have two players definitely absent on Saturday while a trio of forwards are listed as questionable hoping to return to action. Yangel Herrera is out and that will likely go unchanged for the rest of the season due to an ankle surgery. Joining him is Cedric Hountondji who is currently battling a hamstring injury.
The aforementioned trio includes NYCFC's joint top goalscorers, David Villa and Ismael Tajouri-Shradi. On top of that, Jo Inge Berget is also questionable after finding his finishing boots during David Villa's absence. At the least, the Boys in Blue will be hoping to have at least one of these players ready for Saturday's clash.
Columbus Crew: The visitors have a shorter injury list. Like NYCFC, the Crew will definitely be without two players. Adam Jahn (knee) and Mohammed Abu (thigh) will 100% miss the match while Jonathan Mensah is listed as questionable and is hoping he'll clear concussion protocol and have an impact on the match.
What's Next?
After five of their most recent six games taking place at Yankee Stadium for Saturday's hosts, they'll get set for two away trips. First, NYCFC will travel south to take on a struggling Orlando City SC. Then, the Boys in Blue will go west to take on the Seattle Sounders to wrap up the month of July.
For Columbus, they all have a meeting with Orlando coming up as they host OCSC prior to the NYCFC meeting. Then, the Crew will stop by New Jersey to take on the New York Red Bulls before returning home once again for a meeting with the Houston Dynamo.
How to Watch
When: Sunday, July 14th at 7 PM EST
Where: Yankee Stadium
Broadcast: DIRECTV, YES Network, CW Columbus - WWHO, Spectrum Sports Ohio, BCSN 2, ESPN+