In a matchup between one of two undefeated teams in the Eastern Conference of Major League Soccer and one of two winless sides out East, the Columbus Crew welcome CF Montreal to Lower.com Field on Saturday.
A 2-1 come-from-behind victory over DC United lifted the Crew up to third in the conference, while Montreal were denied yet another victory, playing to a 1-1 draw versus the Chicago Fire, keeping them at the bottom of the East table.
Match preview
It has been another strong start to an MLS campaign for Columbus, who are unbeaten after six matchdays for the first time since their Cup-winning season in 2020.
Wilfried Nancy‘s men have posted back-to-back clean sheets at Lower.com Field in this competition and have points in their last five regular season outings at home.
If they can avoid defeat this weekend, the Crew will surpass their longest unbeaten run in MLS from a year ago (six) and be within one game of equalling their lengthiest such streak from 2023 (eight).
In 2024, they had the second-best defensive unit in the Eastern Conference during the regular season (40 goals allowed), and they have maintained that solid backline early into this year, conceding fewer goals than any side in their conference (four).
Three of their four competitive victories in 2025 have come when they have netted multiple times, with Columbus winning five consecutive MLS encounters when doing so.
Nancy has never lost a match versus his former team, with the Crew beating Le CFM in three of their four meetings against them since the Frenchman became the Columbus head coach.
That first victory continues to elude Montreal, who have just two points after six matches this season, their worst-ever start to an MLS campaign.
There was a small positive for Marco Donadel to take away from their previous affair, however, as this team ended a four-match goalless run in this competition, scoring early in the second half.
It was the first time since September 2024 that this team had earned a point in this competition after conceding the opening goal, though they have not won when doing so since June of last year (4-2 against the Philadelphia Union).
The only two points for Le CFM in MLS this year have taken place away from home, where this team have also scored their only three goals to this stage of the campaign.
Montreal have yet to score a single goal domestically in 2025 in the opening 45 minutes of play, winning their last five matches in this competition when doing so a year ago.
Le CFM have not won a regular-season match in Ohio since Nancy was their manager, defeating the Crew 2-1 at Lower.com Field in August 2022.
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Team News
Last week the Crew were without Nicholas Hagen due to a hand injury, while Rudy Camacho was unavailable because of a thigh strain.
There were two new faces in their starting 11 from matchday five to six as Patrick Schulte and Maximilian Arfsten came into the fold in place of Evan Bush and Aziel Jackson.
Diego Rossi notched a brace for them against the Black and Red, erasing the early goal scored by Christian Benteke that had put them behind after 13 minutes.
Numerous Montreal players were forced to sit out in Chicago, including Giacomo Vrioni (calf), Jules-Anthony Vilsaint (thigh), Hennadiy Synchuk (lower body), Nathan-Dylan Saliba (ankle), Jalen Neal (knee) and Fabian Herbers (thigh).
In their match last week, George Campbell made his 50th start for the club, Luca Petrasso picked up his first assist at Le CFM and Joel Waterman surpassed 10,000 minutes played in MLS, becoming the sixth player in club history to reach that milestone.
Dante Sealy netted the only goal for them against Chicago, his first for the club after joining them in February from Dutch side Jong PSV.
Columbus Crew possible starting lineup:
Schulte; Ruvalcaba, Zawadzki, Cheberko; Herrera, Chambost, Nagbe, Jackson, DeJuan Jones; Russell-Rowe, Rossi
CF Montreal possible starting lineup:
Sirois; Alvarez, Campbell, Waterman, Petrasso; Piette, Loturi; Sealy, Duke, Clark; Owusu
We say: Columbus Crew 2-0 CF Montreal
The Crew can win matches several different ways, while Montreal are still getting a feel for one another and struggling to find that killer instinct.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
