The Columbus Crew will christen their new stadium when they host the New England Revolution at Lower.com Field.

The Crew sit fifth in the Eastern Conference standings following a 0-0 draw at Austin FC while the Revolution are atop the East, second in the entire MLS in points despite a 2-1 loss to FC Dallas last time out.

Team news

Luis Caicedo is unavailable for this match as head coach Bruce Arena anticipates the Colombian midfielder's return in the next month. Christian Mafla could be involved as he returned to training this week.

Arena said that central midfielder Wilfrid Kaptoum is back in full training and will available for selection in Columbus while Matt Turner and Tajon Buchanan were named to the Gold Cup squads, but won't depart until after the weekend, making them available for this match.

Columbus will definitely be without three players as Artur, who scored the goal that clinched the Eastern Conference championship against New England last season, is set to miss out with a hip injury while Aidan Morris (knee) and Bradley Wright-Phillips (thigh) will also be absent.

The quartet of Luis Diaz (knee), Pedro Santos (thigh), Josh Williams (ankle) and Gyasi Zardes (calf) are all questionable. Zardes and Santos were both in the starting lineup when Columbus drew with Austin last week.

Predicted lineups

Columbus: Room; Afful, Wormgoor, Mensah, Valenzuela; Nagbe, Fraser; Santos, Zelarayán, Molino; Zardes

New England: Turner; Jones, Farrell, Kessler, Bye; Polster, McNamara; Traustason, Gil, Buchanan; Bou

Ones to watch

Despite struggling for goals recently, Zardes has scored each of the last three goals for the Crew, including game-winners against Chicago and Toronto. All three were scored within eight yards of the net and two were first-time finishes.

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Although Carles Gil has been an MVP candidate all season long for the RevolutionGustavo Bou has scored in each of his last four appearances and has five goals and two assists for the season. He's scored in many different ways during his streak: a right-footed volley from distance, a left-footed first-time finish inside the box, and a pair of breakaways.

Previous meetings

As two of the founding members of the league, this rivalry dates back to 1996 and in their last matchup, it was New England who came out on top on May 16th by a 1-0 score with Adam Buksa scoring in the 86th minute to give the Revolution all three points.

The Crew have won four of the last five meetings, keeping clean sheets in each of those victories. Columbus has is unbeaten in their last six home matches against New England, having not lost at home to their Eastern Conference foes since January of 2014.

Manager's comments

Columbus manager Caleb Porter described what type of atmosphere he expects when the Crew take the field for the first time at their new stadium.

"I think it'll be electric, loud, intimidating hopefully, and it's always important to get the first three points. You want people to come into this facility and know it's very difficult to get points off your team, and build that mentality of winning. 

"You build a little bit that intimidating factor with the fans and supporters that it's very difficult to come in here and get anything off of our team."

How to watch

The match will be nationally televised on ESPN with kick-off scheduled for 5pm Eastern time.

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