Houston Dynamo vs Columbus Crew Prediction; Big decision for both managers; play to win or play safe?

It's an all-american clash when Houston Dynamo and Columbus Crew go toe-to-toe in the CONCACAF Champions League Round of 16. The first leg will be played at the BBVA Compass Stadium, home to Houston Dynamo.

There's been more than 20 matches played between these two clubs, but this will be their first meeting in the CONCACAF Champions League. 

Houston Dynamo

Houston Dynamo will hope their job is easier as they are drawn to face a fellow MLS side Columbus Crew. There's been lots of drama in the meetings between these 2 sides in the past, but at the moment, Houston Dynamo believe they have the advantage of playing at home and they intend to exercise that advantage.

Houston Dynamo kicked off Saint Louis City over 2 legs in the previous round of the CONCACAF tournament. The first game ended in a 2-1 defeat at the Citypark and then the second leg ended in a 1-0 win for Houston Dynamo at the BBVA Compass Stadium. So automatically, Houston Dynamo advanced on aggregate.

Houston Dynamo’s last game is surely going to raise some concerns ahead of this game. They played against the New York Red Bulls and lost 2-1 on home soil. Ibrahim Aliyu gave Houston Dynamo the lead in the 7th minute, but they conceded 2 goals from the Red Bulls in both halves and ended up losing the game.

Ben Olsen has a decision to make on how to set up the team ahead of this fixture. He deployed a flat 4-3-3 formation against The Red Bulls. Although the result was not as he had hoped, the team weren't completely annihilated on the pitch. Brooklyn Raines, Sebastian Kowalczyk and Tate Schmitt were subbed off during the game. Whether that was a tactical decision or just to give them a rest ahead of the CONCACAF game is unknown. But Ben Olsen will hope he can fix the results in the upcoming game. 

Columbus Crew

The Crew have had a win and a draw in their opening 2 games of the season. It's not an excellent result but morale looks good in the camp and there's confidence that this team will go on to get better as the season progresses. This will be the first involvement of the Columbus Crew team in the CONCACAF tournament this season and they will be less worried coming up against a familiar opponent. But they failed to beat Houston Dynamo in both encounters last season, so that in itself is an issue worth considering for this team ahead of this clash.

Columbus Crew held Minnesota United to a 1-1 draw away from home in their last match. They had quite a dominant performance and they deserved to win the game. Columbus Crew manager Wilfried Nancy deployed a 3-4-2-1 formation in the game against Minnesota and the stats were quite impressive. They had 57% possession, 6 shots on target, 2 big chances created.

Wilfried Nancy is most likely sticking to the 3-4-2-1 formation like he has done in 2 MLS games already. A familiar name on the starting line up is Cucho Hernandez. He has 2 goals in 2 matches he's played and if the team can keep the same momentum, he should be able to grab a goal in this game. 

Head to Head

In the last 20 meetings between Houston Dynamo and Columbus Crew, there's been 7 wins for Columbus Crew and 6 wins for Houston Dynamo, and they drew the remaining 7 matches.

Analysis and Predictions

Both clubs are familiar with each other's game and I expect them to treat this game as a regular league encounter and I don't think either team will want to go out of this game without the win.

Ben Olsen might decide to change the set up for the Dynamo team and deter the attacking set up because of his last result and for Columbus Crew, there's almost a certainty they will retain the 3-4-2-1 system.

According to the h2h, Columbus Crew are without a clean sheet in the last 4 meetings. 4 of the last 5 meetings ended with less than 2.5 goals and there were less than 4.5 cards in 6 of the last 8 meetings.

• Both Teams to Score at 1.62 Odds
• Both Teams to Score at 1.62 Odds
• Correct Score 1-1 at 7.00 Odds