@BurrOaks77's Saturday MLS Picks: Battle for Ohio - 8/27

In-state rivalries are always noteworthy, and in-state rivalries with playoff implications on the line are electric. Currently Columbas is seventh in the east and in the final playoff spot with 35 points. Cincinnati sits in ninth on the table with 34 points. In a very tight playoff race every point counts, either side managing to come away with 3 points will be ecstatic.

Cincinnati have struggled at home all season. They have a dismal 4-5-4 record at home and only have one home win in their last 6 home games. The Crew are a gritty road team but don't often pick up all three points. The Crew are 3-7-2 on the road. Only losing two games is impressive and road draws typically get you into the playoffs, as long as you take care of business at home.

In my opinion, the Crew have the best striker on the pitch in Cucho. Cucho has four goals in his last three matches and has scored in eight of his nine starts. Lucas Zelarayan is still a quality player for The Crew and can be absolutely lethal from free kicks. If he sees an opportunity to go directly on net, he won’t hesitate to pull the trigger. Zelarayan from distance has a cannon of a leg and teams need to respect that.

Cincinnati has the MLS’s 3rd leading scorer in Brandon Vazquez who has fifteen goals and five assists. He has netted five goals in his last seven matches. Cincinnati’s next best offensive weapon is the Brazilian Brenner de Silva. Brenner has nine goals and five assists this year. He took a while to round into form this season, but has produced four goals in his last five games.

Columbus won the first head to head match 2-0 back on the 17th of July. That match was in Columbus and Cincinnati will be looking for revenge. Columbus typically gets a lot of looks in front of net, but struggles to finish. Things have improved since they made the choice to start Cucho, but they still average only 1.4 goals per match. Cincinnati average 1.8 goals per match and are 4th in the MLS in that category. However their defense gives up a lot of goals and that’s why Cincinnati is on the outside of the playoffs looking in.

I love goals in this game. Let’s run the score up!