Football Bet of the Day: Columbus Crew to be at it again in another entertaining affair

The USA may have just crashed out of a home Copa America at the group stage, finishing behind Panama, but that's not the end of Americans playing football this summer as the MLS season continues uninterrupted.

The Columbus Crew host Nashville SC at Lower.com Field on Wednesday (23:30, Apple TV) in my football bet of the day, even if it is slightly cheating as the game ticks into Thursday for UK viewers.

Columbus Crew vs Nashville SC Odds

*Please click on the link above to be taken to the main Columbus Crew vs Nashville SC page on betfred.com (or app) for all the live betting prices on this match.

After losing the CONCACAF Champions Cup final to Mexican side Pachuca on June 2, the Columbus Crew dusted themselves down to win three of their four MLS matches in June, a 2-1 defeat in Fort Lauderdale to Sergio Busquets' Inter Miami outfit the only blot on their copybook.

Their great form in the competition dates back to the middle of May, however, as they have won six of their seven league matches since losing 2-1 at home to Cincinnati on May 12, and their current standing of fourth in the Eastern Conference can be considered rather false as they are only two points behind the New York Red Bulls having played three fewer games.

The Crew are also seven points clear of their next opponents, seventh-placed Nashville, who have played two matches more than the 2023 MLS Cup winners.

Nashville endured a mixed June, beating Toronto FC (1-2) and New York City (1-0) in back-to-back games but drawing with the Red Bulls (0-0) and starting and ending the month with defeat against the New England Revolution (1-2) and Inter Miami (1-2) respectively.

The Coyotes can take confidence from their recent away record, however, after recovering from three straight defeats on the road to go unbeaten in their last four away from home.

Meanwhile, the Crew have only won one of their last five home games, losing to Cincinnati and drawing with each of CF Montreal (0-0), the Portland Timbers (2-2) and DC United (1-1), though the first two stalemates did come just days before important Champions Cup ties, so perhaps their heads were elsewhere.

The two sides have already faced each other this season, playing out a 2-2 draw at Geordis Park in Nashville, Tennessee, while both teams won their respective home games against each other last year, Nashville winning 3-1 before losing 2-0 at Lower.com Field.

So, that's two of the last three head-to-heads that have produced at least three strikes, and I think we could be in for more goals on Wednesday (and Thursday).

Columbus have played 18 MLS matches this term and 11 (61%) have finished with over 2.5 goals, which is the competition average. Seven of their last eight games in the division have finished with at least three goals, and they've been on the winning end of six of them.

Nashville rank lowly in the over 2.5 goals table, with just 50% (10/20) of their matches seeing at least three goals, but two of their last three - and three of their last five - have gone over 2.5, including their last away outing in Toronto.

After thrashing the Revs 5-1 in Foxborough last time out and routing Sporting Kansas City 4-0 in their most recent home game, the Crew should be well up for the visit of Nashville in midweek as they look to leapfrog the Red Bulls into third place and stake a claim for the top two, with Inter Miami currently leading the way in the Eastern Conference.

In Cucho Hernandez, the hosts have a prolific scorer, one who finished fourth in the Golden Boot standings last season with 16 goals, and the Venezuelan is already on 10 after just 13 matches this term.

The 25-year-old has scored in each of his last four games and struck a hat-trick in the victory over Sporting Kansas City last time out in Columbus, so he will be relishing the opportunity to add to his tally against the Boys in Gold, and he is ably supported by Diego Rossi and Christian Ramirez, who have five and three goals respectively in MLS this season.

Offers

GOAL FEVER - Place a Match Result single bet (Pre-Match), and if your team wins by 3 or more goals in selected matches, we’ll pay a 25% cash bonus on top of your winnings!

You can read all our latest Football Bets of the Day at our dedicated Betfred Insights content hub.