Columbus Crew vs. Nashville SC Prediction, Preview and Odds - 7/21/21

The Columbus Crew welcome Nashville SC to Lower.com Field in Ohio on Wednesday night for a crucial Eastern Conference tilt. The two teams have yet to meet this year, but after Columbus swept the two games last season, Nashville will surely be looking for some revenge after not even being able to score a goal in the season series. There’s very little to separate these teams as well in the standings, so a win either way can either propel Columbus ahead of Nashville or allow Nashville to build an even larger gap between themselves and their rivals to the north. With both teams missing players due to the Gold Cup though, that will only make Wednesday’s match even more intriguing for fans, players, and coaches alike.

Crew Look To Remain Undefeated Against Nashville

After sweeping both games last year against Nashville by identical 2-0 scorelines, Columbus will look to remain undefeated all-time against their rivals to the south with a good showing on Wednesday night. Columbus sits in sixth place right now in the Eastern Conference standings, on 20 points and a plus-three goal differential. With the top seven teams qualifying for the playoffs, the Crew know how important it is to come away with a win at home. Columbus has only dropped one of six games since the return from the end of May and early June break and are 2-0-1 at home over that time span. Welcoming Nashville after just hosting NYCFC over the weekend should give the Crew a slight leg up having to not travel over the last few days.

The CONCACAF Gold Cup has hit Columbus harder than quite a few other teams and will have the staff scrambling to find the right lineup fit. Kevin Molino, Luis Diaz, Derrick Etienne, Gyasi Zardes, and Liam Fraser, are all out on international duty. Add in Adian Morris, Artur, and Milton Valenzuela, being out with injuries, and Josh Williams and Bradley Wright-Phillips being questionable, and Columbus will be without quite a bit. The good news is that leading scorer Lucas Zelarayan will be available, as will assist leader Pedro Santos. The one player to keep an eye on will be Darlington Nagbe, one of the best box-to-box midfielders in the league. With a goal to his name, he’s garnered 12 starts this year and has the experience to hold down the midfield despite all the potential issues with players being out on Wednesday night.

While the offense is a little more hurt with the injuries and international duty, the defense will only be without two players at worst, and even Josh Williams might be able to give it a go in the back. Eloy Room has drawn 11 starts on the season in goal and has kept three clean sheets, giving the team continuity at one of the game’s most important positions. The Crew have allowed a goal in three straight games since the start of the month and will be hard-pressed to keep Nashville off the scoreboard. They did shut them out in both matches last season, but the variability of who will be on the field on Wednesday will make it a tougher match defensively.

Nashville Looks To Gap Columbus

With the Eastern Conference standings continuing to look tight, Nashville knows heading on the road against a team just behind them in the standings is a crucial opportunity for their season. Sitting two points clear of Columbus, the ability to at least come away with a point, or even three, would do wonders for their confidence. Finding a win would extend the gap to five points as well and potentially move them all the way into second place in the conference, depending on how other results shake out. Nashville’s fine run of form though has been helped by playing five straight home games and having not been on the road since June 18th. The travel will be an adjustment, but having to take the short trip shouldn’t be a huge issue as a one off after winning 5-1 at home over the weekend.

While Nashville has their own players missing, they haven’t been hit nearly as hard as Columbus. Walker Zimmerman is a big miss in the back, and the team won’t be happy to be facing Columbus' imposing style without Alistair Johnson, also on international duty. Dom Badji and Anibal Godoy will also likely miss time with injuries, but besides that, Nashville should have some familiar faces out there. Nashville just scored five goals against Chicago over the weekend, showing that the offense isn’t going to miss a beat while the Gold Cup continues. Hany Mukhtar is one of the best goal scorers in the league and has seven goals to show for himself, while C.J. Sapong has three and will also be available. Nashville will in fact have every who has scored a goal this season available on Wednesday, and their top four assist leaders as well. With so much offense still on the field, they’ll definitely have the ability to make life difficult for what’s expected to be an inexperienced Columbus side.

Defensively, no Walker Zimmerman will hurt at center back, but he’ll be the only defender out for Nashville. Nashville has allowed a goal in back-to-back games but against Columbus, will like their chances of being able to get forward from the back with little creativity and firepower being on the field for the Crew overall. Wednesday’s game will present a great opportunity for players like Daniel Lovitz and Jack Mahar to get forward and use their athleticism to change the nature of the game into their favor.

Pick: Nashville (+170)

The Gold Cup has evened the playing field between these teams, who already had little to separate them in the standings. Columbus will have their leading scorer, but will be missing nearly all of their depth to support him, as well as key figures in the back. Nashville on the other hand will have nearly their entire offense intact and ready to go, while only missing one player in the back. Columbus will struggle to keep up in the last twenty minutes when Nashville can exploit their depth advantage and wear away at Columbus’ already struggling defense. Expect both teams to score, but the Crew will struggle to have an answer for the constant barrage of chances that Nashville will throw at them.

Total: Over

Both games between these two teams last season only had two goals, but given the interesting lineups, especially for Columbus, that will be out there due to injuries and Gold Cup, goals can be expected in this one. Columbus has their top scorer and assists leader, along with the dangerous Darlington Nagbe, so finding the scoresheet will be a matter of if not when Columbus. The larger issue for them will be their lack of depth and Nashville’s ability to exploit that. Nashville will have plenty of offensive firepower in their own right and finding the back of the net multiple times shouldn’t be an issue at all for the roadside.