- Columbus Crew are unbeaten in their last three home games (Won 1, Drawn 2).
- Philadelphia Union are undefeated in their previous five league matches (Won 3, Drawn 2).
- The hosts have the better of the recent head-to-head record (Won 4, Drawn 2, Lost 1 in last 7 meetings).
Top two clash looks too close to call
Columbus Crew host Philadelphia Union in the early MLS game on Sunday in a clash between two teams with contrasting styles.
Columbus Crew likes to play the patient game, building from the back and trying to be sophisticated in the way they move the ball to break the opposition lines, while Philadelphia are all about direct play, high-tempo football and aggressive pressing.
Wilfried Nancy’s men like to dominate the ball and use their width to overload the opposition and create chances.
Attacking midfielder Dániel Gazdag has been the orchestrator of that plan, but his arrival at the club from Philadelphia in the off-season adds a bit of extra spice to this growing Eastern Conference rivalry.
Bradley Carnell’s Union are a direct, vertical passing team that play at a frenetic pace and are extremely aggressive on the counterpressing when they do not have the possession.
The visitors are in great form, taking seven points from their last 3 matches with a 2-1 win over Charlotte and a 1-1 away draw at FC Dallas.
Crew have the best of the head-to-head stats
Crew bounced back from a 5-1 thrashing at Inter Miami CF with a 2-1 home win over Vancouver Whitecaps ten days ago. They are sixth in the USA MLS 2025 standings with 31 points from 18 matches while Union top the league with 37 points from the same number of games.
Nancy’s side have a strong home record with five wins, four draws and only one defeat from ten games, but they come into this game in mixed form after taking just one win, two draws and two losses in their last five matches across all competitions.
Philadelphia have won five, drawn one and lost two of their eight away league games this season, so the bookies are making the hosts narrow favorites at 2.00 with the visitors coming in at 3.40 as underdogs.
Union will make it tough for the Crew
But Union have also taken one win and a draw from their last two away league matches and have failed to win any of their previous three trips to Columbus, so we are going to pass on both teams in the 90 minutes betting markets. Instead, the Draw at 3.60 looks a decent value play in the match result betting as the head-to-head numbers lean towards the home side, but this clash could well follow the pattern of the last meeting in the USA MLS 2025 when it finished 2-2 at Union’s home.
Diego Rossi leads the scoring for Columbus with nine goals in 17 league games so far.
Tai Baribo is Philadelphia’s top scorer with 13 goals in 16 games and the former Dutch youth international can be a constant threat at the point of attack.
