A heated face-off floats our way as the Columbus Crew prepare to lock horns with the Philadelphia Union. Let's cruise through some facts and figures, shall we?
Union's goalie, Andrew Rick, does posses an appreciable 7.25 rating with 8 saves. His companion Andre Blake slips in closely with a 7.15 rating and 4 saves. On the flipside, Columbus Crew guards their goalpost with Patrick Schulte, strutting a 6.68 rating with 11 saves, and Abraham Romero, sporting a thankfully less-than-impressive 6.10 rating and a lone save.
As we saunter into player stats and swivel around some star performers, for Philadelphia, Gazdag literally fires up the place with his 7.67 rating, 3 goals, and a solid passing accuracy. Additionally, the presence of Glesnes and Harriel, with ratings of 7.50 and 7.47 respectively, and each wielding a goal, strengthens our confidence in the team. Over at Columbus, Hernandez surfs atop with an 8.43 rating and 3 goals to his name. His right-hand man, Jackson, with a 7.33 rating and a goal, and Arfsten, with a 7.26 rating, definitely bring a contestable match to the table.
Now, glancing at the chronicles from the past, Columbus Crew leads the series not by a landslide, but an anecdote enough to tug the prediction in their favor. To keep things grounded, in terms of regular season records, the Crew again brags about a better stat line at 16-9-6 against Union's 9-10-13.
The recent results, however, draw attention to Philadelphia's strong defense excessively weakened only by Orlando City SC. Columbus also seems to have hit a rocky path with a recent loss against Inter Miami CF.
Some call it intuition, I call it a coin toss, but it seems Columbus Crew, despite a rocky recent performance, continues to outweigh the Union due to their past and season record. Bye-bye, crystal ball? More like hello, betting slip.
Albert’s Prediction: Columbus Crew by 1