It has been a good two weeks for New York City Football club as they have advanced to the found of eight in CONCACAF Champions league. They will look to add to their success and winning streak this Sunday verses the Columbus Crew in Major League Soccer’s season opener for both clubs.
New York City will be facing a newly designed Crew team. Fourteen players on the Crew roster were not on it at the start of 2019 season and the crew have gone out of their way in the off season to acquire and exiting players, adding the likes of Darlington Nagbe, Vito Wormgoor and Lucas Zelarayan. This will be a test for NYC as they travel to MAPFRE Stadium. The crew are fast, strong, talented and have a true number ten in Zelarayan. The 28 year old Argentine can create and assist or attack the goal with equal aplomb. He will be feeding the Gyasi Zardes and Fanendo Adi all day with quality passes and creating space with good runs into the box. The Columbus attack should be a real test for Ronny Deila’s men.
City have some weapons of their own to show off in this game as well. Heber Araujo Do Santos scored a hat trick in Costa Rica in the first CCL game against San Carlos and will be looking to pick up where he left off in that game. Maxi Moralez was the league leader in assists last season and does not show signs of stopping. The big question is who will start on the right wing. Jesus Medina has started both CCL matches but Ismael Tajouri-Shradi looked in fine form when he came on at the end of the game against San Carlos this Wednesday. If Tajouri-Shradi is match fit and healthy expect him to get the nod. Either way it should be an exciting game.
Home manager Caleb Porter had this to say.“I can tell you in going through seven preseasons we are in a really good spot in comparison to other teams that I’ve had. It helps that we made quite a few signings in the summer so a lot of the roster-building started there,” Porter said.
Ronny Deila had this to say about how his team wants to play coming out of the mid week CCL match. “We are in a good flow now and we want to keep on winning. That is what we love to do.”
Head-to-head NYCFC is slightly ahead with five wins and four draws. Columbus has beaten NYCFC four times.
The game will be fast paced an most likely high scoring. New York and Columbus match up well with each other. Both teams have shown in the past that they like to press high and attack quickly. The both have players who can control the tempo of the game and wear down the opposing side. It will be an interesting match up to watch on Sunday.
