The Columbus Crew (9 wins, 6 losses, 12 draws) welcome the Chicago Fire (8-13-7) to Lower.com Field Saturday. Kickoff is set for 5:30 p.m. ET. Below, we preview the Columbus Crew vs. Chicago Fire odds and lines, and make our best MLS bets, picks and predictions.
The Crew come into the home match desperately needing to send Chicago home without any points. Columbus is playing more of an early evening match with Ohio State playing at 7:30 p.m. ET close by.
That shouldn’t impact Columbus, a side that is 6-4-4 at home this season. The Crew are led by star M Lucas Zelarayán, who has 8 goals and 5 assists. They also recently added F Cucho, who has 8 goals in 8 starts.
As for the Fire, they are sitting 2nd-to-last in the East with a -10 goal differential, having only scored 28 goals on the season. Chicago is led by F Kacper Przybyłko with 5 goals on the season.
Chicago is just 3-8-3 on the road this season and has lost 3 of its last 4 matches. The Fire may turn to Columbian 18-year-old F Jhon Durán for scoring. He has 3 goals in 9 starts (21 appearances).
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Columbus Crew vs. Chicago Fire odds, lines, picks and predictions
Odds provided by Tipico Sportsbook; access USA TODAY Sports Scores and Sports Betting Odds hub for a full list. Lines last updated Friday at 2:16 p.m. ET.
- Money line: Columbus Crew -105 (bet $105 to win $100) | Chicago Fire +270 (bet $100 to win $270) | Draw +270
- Over/Under: 2.5 (O: -135 | U: +110)
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Prediction
Columbus Crew 2, Chicago Fire 0
Money line (ML)
BET COLUMBUS CREW (-105).
The Crew will be coming into his battle with a bit more motivation than the Fire. They need to leave with 3 points or else risk dropping out of playoff position.
Columbus is 2-0-1 against the bottom 2 teams in the East, having taken down Chicago on the road 3-2 earlier in the year. The Crew have won 5 of their last 12 matches.
This game should be more about the Fire’s struggles, having dropped 3 of their last 4. They haven’t scored in their last 3 games and have allowed 8 goals in their last 4.
Couple the motivation and recent play of each club, and I’ll take the Crew (-105).
Over/Under (O/U)
LEAN UNDER 2.5 (+110).
The Fire haven’t scored in 3 matches and have gone under this total in all 3. They don’t play at a quick pace and don’t have the goal scorers to put many attacks together. Chicago has the fewest goals scored in the conference.
Similarly, the Crew don’t play at a quick pace and have gone under this total in 2 of their last 4. Columbus hasn’t had a game where it has had more than 2 expected goals since March.
While it has the midfield play to win and even compete with top-tier sides, it isn’t a score-heavy club, averaging just 1.32 goals per game and allowing just 1.11.
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