The Crown Welcome The Crew: Charlotte v Columbus Preview
The boys from the QC are looking to rebound from their exit in the U.S. Open Cup and tomorrow night provides that opportunity. Charlotte gets back into ML:S Regular Season at 7:30 pm tomorrow night as the Columbus Crew look to continue their climb up the Eastern Conference table.
Coming into the match, Columbus sits in third in the east on 27 points. Through 14 games, The Crew have gone 4-1-3 at home and 3-0-3 on the road and amassed a goal difference of plus eight. On the flip side, Charlotte sits in eighth on 19 points. The home and road records are vastly different for Charlotte, compliling a 5-2-0 record in front of the Fortress faithful and a dreadful 1-5-1 record on the road. Which team will come out on top tomorrow night, the team who is strong at home but has struggled in recent games or the team that is strong on the road and fighting for a top three spot in the conference?
We got some news from the club this week as it was announced that two players have been called up for the USMNT for two matches next month. Tim Ream and Patrick Agyemang will be heading to Chicago as the USMNT has two matches against Turkey and Switzerland before the Gold Cup. Players will start heading to Chicago on June 1st and losing Tim and Patrick will be difficult for Charlotte. However, I think Toklomati and Marshall-Rutty are in line to get starting minutes with Ream and Agyemang away from the team.
Getting into the lineup, I think we see one that has been pretty common this season. I think it will look similar to the one we saw against Orlando with the only change being Toklomati out and Agyemang in. Starting from the top, we have Zaha and Abada on the wings with Patrick upfront. The midfield three will be Biel, Bronico, and Westwood. On the defensive side the center back pairing will consist of Malanda and Privett while Ream and Scardina guard the flanks. The man between the pipes will be Kristijan Kahlina who gets back in the lineup after being out Wednesday night against D.C.
For my prediction, I think Charlotte gets back on track and grabs three points in a 2-1 victory. Diego Rossi puts Columbus up early as he beats Kahlina and grabs his eighth goal of the season in the 16th minute. The 1-0 scoreline will hold until the half but Charlotte comes out of the gate hot after the break. Pep Biel adds two assists on the night to put him in a tie for the league lead. Patrick Agyemang fires one past the keeper after a nice set up by Biel to tie the game in the 53rd minute. Biel finds Abada who cuts inside and beats the keeper in the 62nd minute for the game winning goal. When the final whistle blows, the scoreboard reads 2-1 Charlotte.