BACK HOME IN A 4-2-3-1
LAST REGULAR-SEASON MEETING
Columbus Crew and Inter Miami CF last met on September 11 of this season, when the Crew traveled to Fort Lauderdale, Florida to battle Miami at DRV PNK Stadium for the first contest between the two sides. Inter Miami scored the match's only goal in the 16th minute through Gonzalo Higuain, giving the hosts a 1-0 win. Defender Milton Valenzuela made his 50th start for the Crew during the match.
WHERE TO WATCH/LISTEN
Saturday's home match against Inter Miami CF begins at 6:00 p.m. ET and is set to be locally televised on Bally Sports Great Lakes and via stream on the Bally Sports App. Neil Sika, Jordan Angeli and Brett Hiltbrand are slated to have the call in English. Pre-match coverage will begin at 5:30 p.m. ET on Bally Sports Great Lakes. The contest is also available in English on 1460 AM ESPN and streaming via "Listen Live" on 971TheFan.com, with Chris Doran calling the match. A Spanish audio stream is available on ColumbusCrew.com, with Juan Valladares on the call.
MOREIRA MAKES FIRST REGULAR-SEASON APPEARANCE
Defender Steven Moreira made his first regular-season appearance for the Crew against the Philadelphia Union on October 3. The defender started and played 66 minutes against the Union, making two tackles. The Frenchman previously made his Club debut in a start against Liga MX side Cruz Azul in the Campeones Cup on September 29.
NAGBE ON THE VERGE OF 300TH MLS REGULAR SEASON START
With his next start for the Crew, midfielder Darlington Nagbe will reach the 300 regular season starts mark in Major League Soccer. Nagbe was selected second overall by the Portland Timbers in the 2011 MLS SuperDraft and has made 312 regular-season appearances with the Timbers, Atlanta United and Columbus Crew during his time in MLS, winning three MLS Cups (2015 with Portland Timbers, 2018 with Atlanta United, 2020 with Columbus Crew). Nagbe will become the 22nd player in MLS history to make 300 regular-season starts and only the eighth active player to reach the mark.
CALEB PORTER NEARS 100 MLS REGULAR-SEASON VICTORIES
Following the Black & Gold's 2-1 victory over CF Montreal on September 25, Crew Head Coach Caleb Porter brought his all-time MLS regular-season total to 99 victories, and is now only one win away from reaching the 100 victory mark. Porter joined MLS in 2013 and has since won two MLS Cups (2015 with Portland Timbers, 2020 with Columbus Crew) while posting a record of 99-83-72. Currently, there are only 10 other MLS head coaches in the League's history to win 100 or more regular-season matches.
LATE-MATCH HEROICS
The Crew has left a lot of their scoring for late in the game, with 31 percent (10) of their 32 goals coming in the final 15 minutes of matches this season, the highest percentage in MLS.
FIVE CREW PLAYERS RECEIVE INTERNATIONAL CALL-UPS FOR OCTOBER FIFA INTERNATIONAL WINDOW
Columbus Crew defender Jonathan Mensah, midfielders Luis Diaz, Liam Fraser and Lucas Zelarayan and forward Gyasi Zardes featured for their national teams during the October FIFA International Window. Mensah made two starts for Ghana against Zimbabwe (October 9; October 12) in group-stage play for CAF World Cup qualification. Zelarayan made two appearances (one start) for Armenia in group-stage action for UEFA World Cup qualification, starting against Iceland and providing an assist in his international debut (October 8) before making a substitute appearance against Romania (October 11). In Concacaf World Cup qualification, Diaz made one appearance for Costa Rica, appearing as a substitute at Honduras (October 7). Fraser appeared twice for Canada, entering both matches as a substitute (October 7 at Mexico; October 10 at Jamaica). Zardes made three appearances (one start) for the United States, appearing as a substitute versus Jamaica (October 7), starting at Panama (October 10) and making an appearance as a substitute against Costa Rica at Lower.com Field (October 13).
