Sitting in third place in the East, the Columbus crew is in great shape right now. They are tied for third in MLS in both points from last six games (12) and points from last 12 games (21).
The biggest driver of Columbus’ success? This is their attack led by Cucho Hernández. Now, armed with data for the season, we can say that Wilfried Nancy’s attack is the best in the league. No team created more penalty-free xGs than the Crew, according to FBref, and only Atlanta United comes close to scoring the total (67 for Columbus, 66 for Atlanta). For those who enjoy a high-quality offensive game—which, by my math, is pretty much everyone—Columbus and Atlanta will be the must-watch Round One Best-of-3 series.
The already hot Crew look to be favorites, especially with Thiago Almada’s red card on Decision Day forcing him to miss the first game of the series.