Saturday, September 27, 2014

Predictions, Thoughts: Crew (H) vs Impact

Columbus is at home again tonight for the franchise's second to last regular season home match. Montreal is on the menu tonight. Dinner is 7:30 PM EST.

MATCH NOTES
CLB: Impressive run, 13 pts in last 6
CLB: Lineup should remain familiar
MTL: Effort levels still there, but team deeply flawed
MTL: Haven't played a meaningful game in a while

MATCH PREDICTIONS
% Correct picking Crew results - (Last 10) - Outlet

55% (6) COLUMBUS DISPATCH ... COLUMBUS CREW
48% (6) MLSSOCCER ... COLUMBUS CREW
48% (3) WHOSCORED.COM ... DRAW
48% (6) WIN DRAW WIN ... COLUMBUS CREW
45% (6) HOME TEAM ... COLUMBUS CREW
41% (5) BET365 ... COLUMBUS CREW
38% (3) GOAL.COM ... DRAW
28% (4) TABLE POSITION ... COLUMBUS CREW
--% (-) WV HOOLIGAN ... (no pick)

--% (6) MASSIVE REPORT ... COLUMBUS CREW
Pulling down Massive Report this week to start including Nate Beckman's picks. Nate is about as on the pulse of the team and league as you can be and regularly posts those thoughts in his regular "4caster" column. As always, bookmark SB Nation's MR for all the latest.

MATCH THOUGHTS
This week see's the Crew as heavily favored as I have seen them in three years. The BET365 line of 8/15 is about has large as it gets in MLS just in general. Win Draw Win shows a large stake on a 2-0 win and voters only going Montreal 8% of the time (as low as it gets).

8 AM, Sept 27, German Village
One of the benefits to they way the Crew play now is that they can hold off below average teams, even if they aren't having their best day. Last week's 1-0 victory over New England was an intense and meaningful. With more of that coming up on the road for the team this match falls prey to the proverbial "trap game" (...and I told myself I wouldn't write that, gah!).

Helping the Crew out, if they do come out flat, will be the possibility that Ignacio Piatti not playing. He's a very, very good player on a Montreal has a handful of good players.

Crew fans will remember Dilly Duka and he is having a great year on a bad team (whoscored.com has him rated in to quarter). They've also got Hassoun Camara, Andres Romero, and Justin Mapp. Their deep rooted flaw is not those guys, it's depth and players that are suppose to be good but are playing very average. Felipe Martins, Jack McInerney, Patrice Bernier and even Marco Di Vaio fall into the average bucket and shouldn't.

Weather looks great. Clear and mid-70s. Being the time of year this is, you should see loads of nice long shadows and the east stands soaked in a beautiful golden hue. It's magic time here in Ohio.

No comments: