New York City FC will be hoping to extend their undefeated run to seven games on Sunday when they welcome Columbus Crew to the Yankee Stadium.
The visitors have gone three matches without a loss themselves, and a victory at the weekend could potentially see them climb into the playoff spots in the Major League Soccer Eastern Conference.
Match preview
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New York City are enjoying an excellent run right now, having gone six matches in a row without a defeat across all competitions.
This has seen them climb to sixth place in the Eastern Conference, while the club have also progressed in the U.S. Open Cup tournament in their most recent outing.
Ronny Deila's team defeated Rochester New York 3-1 with goals from Thiago Andrade, Heber and Maxime Chanot, even though Gabriel Pereira got sent off in the match.
The Pigeons have been impressive offensively so far this season, particularly at the Yankee Stadium where they have scored 18 goals in six matches.
Defensively, New York City have also showcased their qualities as they have kept three clean sheets across their previous six outings, which is a combination that has helped them dominate games.
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The visitors are also enjoying an undefeated run at the moment, and even though it is only three games, the performances have seen improvements in that time.
Columbus Crew were already knocked out of the U.S. Open Cup, and that means they have had a longer break than their opponents, which could prove to be beneficial.
Away from home, Caleb Porter's men are yet to win a single match in the MLS, with four draws and a defeat at this point in the season.
Even though they have struggled on the road so far, Columbus only find themselves one point away from the top half of the Eastern Conference.
A victory has the potential of taking them into the playoff positions, and it would allow them to leapfrog their opponents at the same time.
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Team News
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Chanot had been out of action after suffering a facial injury during international duty, but he was able to make a return in midweek from the bench, adding to their squad.
However, the squad are still missing Anton Tinnerholm, who has been dealing with an Achilles tendon issue, which will remain the case this weekend.
Columbus Crew are missing Kevin Molino at the moment as an attacking threat because of a knee problem, but Miguel Berry has filled in well, having scored last weekend.
The 4-3-3 formation is something that the visitors are likely to continue pushing on Sunday, which could be strong enough to cause New York City some problems.
New York City FC possible starting lineup:
Johnson; Gray, Martins, Callens, Gloster; Parks, Acevedo; Andrade, Rodriquez, Moralez; Heber
Columbus Crew possible starting lineup:
Room; Etienne, Jonathan, Williams, Santos; Morris, Artur, Nagbe; Yeboah, Igbekeme, Berry
We say: New York City FC 3-0 Columbus Crew
Columbus Crew might be heading into this game on the back of three games without a loss, but they are heading to the Yankee Stadium, where their opponents have been dominant.
New York City are performing with great quality right now, particularly with their offensive qualities, and that should lead to them securing another victory.
Data Analysis
Our analysis of all available data, including recent performances and player stats up until an hour before kickoff, suggested the most likely outcome of this match was a New York City FC win with a probability of 68.91%. A draw had a probability of 18.2% and a win for Columbus Crew had a probability of 12.92%.
The most likely scoreline for a New York City FC win was 2-0 with a probability of 11.15%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 1-0 (9.83%) and 2-1 (9.71%). The likeliest drawn scoreline was 1-1 (8.56%), while for a Columbus Crew win it was 0-1 (3.77%). The actual scoreline of 2-0 was predicted with an 11.2% likelihood. Our data analysis correctly predicted a 2-0 win for New York City FC in this match and our team at Sports Mole correctly predicted the win for New York City FC.
