Columbus Crew vs FC Cincinnati MLS Regular Season Match – SATURDAY, May 17, 7:00 PM – Lower.com Field Broadcast: Apple TV, FS1, FOX Deportes Odds (as of 5/13): Columbus -105 | Draw +250 | Cincinnati +250 Vitals:* Columbus Crew 25 PTS / 12 G / 2.08 PPG | 7W-1L-4D | 20 GF / 12 GA / 8 GD | Form: D-W-W-L-W FC Cincinnati 25 PTS / 12 G / 2.08 PPG | 8W-3L-1D | 17 GF / 14 GA / 3 GD | Form: W-L-W-W-W Goal Leaders:* Columbus Crew Rossi - 6 Russell-Rowe - 4 Arfsten - 3 FC Cincinnati Evander - 7 Denkey - 6 Valenzuela - 2 Previous Meeting: MLS Regular Season September 14, 2024 – TQL Stadium Columbus Crew 0, FC Cincinnati 0 Notes: ꃅꍟ꒒꒒ ꀤꌗ ꌃꍏꉓꀘ ꂦꈤ ꓄ꃅꍟ ꂵꍟꈤꀎ, ꌃꂦꌩꌗ ꍏꈤꀸ ꁅꀤꋪ꒒ꌗ YES! Another week scrappin' at the top of the table. YES! It's the Battle for Ohio®. NO! I won't be at The Dot. Quit trying to touch my body. Both teams will be returning from (very winnable) trips to Canada. Zawadzki is one yellow away from an accumulation suspension, so that's something to keep an eye on. While Cincy has an impressive record, they haven't been elite on the road this season. On the flipside, the Crew haven't been the solidest at home. All this to say... we're DOOOOOOOMED! ⛧⛧⛧⛧⛧⛧⛧ summoning a w ⛧⛧⛧⛧⛧⛧⛧ Discuss. Bonus track. chr1st's film recommendation (for the youngins and uncultured swine) *Does not include results from matchday 13.
The weather is improving. The high on Saturday could touch 80, game time will be in the mid 70's with a very small chance or rain. A higher chance of rain and potentially storms will come through overnight Friday into Saturday morning, but should be cleared out by the afternoon. We haven't had many if any good weather games yet this season, hopefully the trend as we get closer stays positive.
Over at the MLS site, Sasha Penis Breath Kljestan says that Galaxy/LAFC "is the best rivalry in MLS and it isn't even close".
Is that the "Get to the game late and leave early" rivalry? (I've been to a Dodgers game where this is legendary.)
I mean, he's right. Have you guys actually watched any El Trafficos? Just about every game is must watch TV. It's also hard to beat a cross town rivalry like that. They've also played at the Rose Bowl twice - once in front of 82k and another time in front of 70k. I don't know of another rivalry in this league that would pull 80k+ for a game. With that said, that rivalry still doesn't have a single game on par with the 2023 ECF. That one is tough to beat.
@LaMacchia beat me to the answer. Poetland/Seattle is an older rivalry with serious history and every bit as big a venue in Seattle, while LAFC still has that new car smell. Yes, El Trafico is a cool name and they have a big venue they can use. But if you put HiR in Ohio Stadium I'll bet you could easily draw 60k, and the fans would be smarter. (Sasha also wants to rate Miami/Orlando, which is a stretch. For now. When Messi finally hangs them.up, well see what the deal really is) (And honestly, he ignored TFC/ Clubfeet, a match up which requires legions of riot police in full tactical gear just to.preserve life and limb. Its just that both teams suck - and Mtl is reaching monumental levels of suckitude - that it's not interesting to anyone except a bunch of local fans bent on mayhem) At worst I'd rate the Los Angeles derby as equal to the others - and thats leaving out New York - or more or less on a par if you'd prefer - but saying that Gals/Ferrell is far and away the best and "nobody else is even close" is a contention that doesnt bear close examination
Sacha is a Doofus. I feel about him the way a lot of you feel about Twelman - I can't stand the guy. I'd agree that El Traffico is a Top 3 rivalry, along with Portland/Seattle and Columbus/Cincinnati. Everyone else is fighting for 4th place.
It's often been pointed out in here that they way fans have to rely on the league to act as the primary source of "information" and "analysis" about itself is, well, bizarre in terms of what usually is the case when one is a fan of a team or a league. I get it. More independent media hasn't exactly been beating down the doors of MLS HQ demanding access, and so the league has chosen to fill the void itself. I mean, it's better than nothing, I'll admit. But sometimes it's little more than Ministry of Propaganda bullshit.
I'm not sure what word that would be. Attendance in SEA-POR games has fallen way off. Seattle can't even hit 40k for games against Portland anymore. They haven't hit 50k for a Portland game since 2019, and they haven't hit 60k in 10 years. Portland didn't even sell out their home game against Seattle last season. They were 2k short of a sellout. But aside from attendance, the LAFC-LAG games have been far more compelling on the field. The games themselves have been exciting and they've had great characters involved. Seattle-Portland simply haven't had that for quite a while now. In my opinion, I'd put LAFC-LAG as number, CLB-FCC a close 2nd, and SEA-POR number 3 in terms of overall "watchability" right now. Rankings will obviously change from time to time based on various factors, but that's where I see things currently.
SEA-POR play in a big venue in Seattle and only manage to fill half of it these days. The games are often boring, and the teams lack solid characters like Bouanga and Puig to bring more excitement to the game. Sure, it has history and that definitely counts for something, but they really need something to reignite that rivalry. A big playoff matchup, like the 2023 ECF, would do wonders. Miami/Orlando is bogus though, that's for sure. Without Messi, who cares? And yea, TFC/Montreal is seriously underrated. Both teams have underrated supporters groups and they are intense. Both teams being awful holds it back though. Also, I agree that LAFC-LAG is not "far and away" the best rivalry. I think it's narrowly the best right now, but there are other matchups (CLB-FCC, SEA-POR, TOR-MTL) that are in the discussion.
I do think LAFC/LAG is the best, most intriguing rivalry in the league. The games are always crazy, the unexpected always happens, and the crowds are pretty insane. Now, in a city the size of Los Angeles, if you have TWO Los Angeles teams playing against each other, I think it would say more about the state of things if you CAN'T draw at least 60K. It should be an absolute gimme to do that, so I wouldn't say the rivalry is better simply because of attendance alone. A quality rivalry also has to do with the quality of the teams. For the most part, both LA teams have been pretty good. The Galaxy stink right now, so right now this minute it's probably NOT the best rivalry. I would say Hell Is Real is the best one at the moment simply because it's literally a top-of-the-table matchup. Seattle/Portland is one I try to tune into when it's happening, because I know there's genuine dislike there, and that's always fun to see. Those teams aren't as high up the table as HIR, but they're both good, so it's still interesting, and the points matter. But all that history and all those feelings don't always equate to an entertaining match once the whistle blows. Sometimes it does, sometimes it doesn't. El Traffico ALWAYS seems to deliver.
We have two teams in a city quite a bit larger than LA that can barely hit 30k, although that says more about the state of those clubs than anything else. NYCFC's new stadium will definitely have a positive impact though. It should help NYCFC attract some bigger names (assuming they want to) which will add more intrigue to the matchup.
Well, the New York rivalry isn't usually played in a football stadium where those numbers are possible, to be fair. RBNY doesn't give up their homefield to do it, and watching a soccer game in a baseball stadium is stupid enough that I'd give them a pass for not showing up en masse there.
They play in a baseball stadium that can hold close to 50k, but can barely get to 30k. Red Bull Arena holds 25k and sometimes they can't even fill that. But yea playing in a baseball stadium is really holding them back. Like I said, NYCFC's new stadium should really help improve things.
The newest Fußlad, all-time soccering great and Crew legend Kei Kamara, could possibly maybe have another crack at his former team (one of the many) on Saturday. According to Transfermarkt, Kei has encountered the Crew on 22 occasions over his illustrious career. He has tallied seven goals and two assists while posting a 10W-2D-10L record against us (I'm surprised to see so few yellows). His most recent meeting was the very good and very fun 2024 Leagues Cup Final. I hope we provide him a repeat of that experience for old times' sake.
I mean, it is really SuperClasico 2.0, since LAFC is the Goats 2.0. Why does nobody talk about the Goats when talking about El Trafico? The LA rivalry is nothing new. The league wants to paste over the Goats but we will never forget. LAFC even hired an ex-Goats coach, FFS. They are not fooling anyone.
Everyone talks about Cascadia and forgets that Vancouver is part of that as well and they are actually good this season. I know that Portland and Seattle are the showcase match but there should be more of a spotlight on Vancouver being a part of it too.