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Recommended bets
[RECOMMENDED_BETS]
Since opening their new stadium, Columbus Crew have only lost four of 14 home matches in all competitions.
Columbus Crew to win and both teams to score NO is 6/4.
Lucas Zelarayán has been the Crew’s talisman since arriving in 2020, scored 21 goals in 58 appearances. The Armenian international is 9/2 to open the scoring and 7/5 to net in 90 minutes.
Match preview
To say the last two seasons have been contrasting for Columbus Crew would be a major understatment.
In 2020, the Crew won MLS Cup for the first time in 12 years, hammering Seattle Sounders in a fitting farewell to Historic Crew Stadium.
However, as defending champions, Caleb Porter’s men finished ninth in the Eastern Conference in 2021, thereby missing the play-offs.
Domestically though, the Black & Gold are expecting significantly better this time round.
In the off-season, Harrison Afful, Aboubacar Keita, Bradley Wright-Phillips and Milton Valenzuela have all left the club.
Australian centre-back Miloš Degenek has arrived along with wingers Yaw Yeboah and James Igbekeme.
Overall, Columbus do have a strong squad so should very much be in the play-off conversation come decision day.
Travelling 2,430 miles west is where one will find Vancouver Whitecaps who too are aiming for better.
Like the other two Canadian clubs, the Caps’ on-field matters were massively disrupted by travel restrictions in the last two years caused by the pandemic.
This forced them to play around half their home games last season in Utah, in front of no fans, so they’ll be hoping those days are over.
In spite of this, the Whitecaps managed to finish sixth in the Western Conference, thereby making the play-offs for the first time since 2017.
However, they were immediately eliminated in the first round, going down 3-1 to Sporting Kansas City at Children’s Mercy Park.
Vanni Sartini, who took over in August last year, is the permanent Head Coach but, on the transfer front, Vancouver have been largely quite.
Thus, Columbus will fancy their chances of a home win at Lower.com Field on opening day.
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