It is the second meeting of the season between Columbus Crew SC and New York City FC. The first, also at MAPFRE Stadium, was a 3-2 win for the Black & Gold, one of only three victories on the season.
For NYCFC, it was a setback in a season mostly made up of successes. After a slow start to the year that saw one win in the club’s first eight contests, the Citizens have turned things around to earn the top spot in the Eastern Conference entering Saturday’s match.
Head coach Patrick Vieira’s side is led offensively by David Villa — 13 goals — and Frank Lampard — eight finishes — but the player who runs the machine in the middle is Andrea Pirlo who has eight assists on the year.