Columbus, OH (My Sportsbook) - The Columbus Crew put their impeccable home record on the line when they host Seattle Sounders FC in an inter-conference Major League Soccer match on Saturday night.
The Crew are currently unbeaten at home, posting a 9-0-4 record at Crew Stadium this season, while stretching their home unbeaten streak to 24-games, dating back to last season, including playoffs.
Columbus (12-4-10) are also the first team to qualify for the 2009 playoffs and appear to be the favorites to win their second straight Supporter's Shield after a 2-0 win over Los Angeles this past Saturday.
"To be honest with you, I enjoyed the game; that was pretty good," Columbus coach Robert Warzycha said. "I think that was one of the best performances this year by us, playing against a team that has played well, has a lot of former international players and a good coach. It's not easy, so I think we performed very well. We were very good on both sides of the ball."
The expansion Sounders are gunning to make the playoffs in their inaugural season in MLS. They currently hold the last spot, but with just three games remaining, need positive results in all three to sneak in. Seattle (9-7-11) is coming off a 2-1 loss at New England this past weekend.
"I wasn't disappointed with our aggressiveness," Sounders coach Sigi Schmid said. "I thought we were good defensively as well. New England scored a PK and Shalrie Joseph scored a header. I mean outside of that, I don't think [goalkeeper Kasey] Keller had a whole lot to do. Most of the shots they had were from outside and distance. I think they had an open look in the first half where somebody was open, had an open header in the box, and I think they had a good shot coming through in the second half, but we had some opportunities where we were close. Our thing is that we still have to be better at pulling the trigger in the box. We still seem to want to have five yards of space before we want to shoot and we've got to be able to shoot with guys draped on us."
The keys for both teams will be shutting down the opposing team's top attacker, Seattle's Fredy Montero and Columbus' Guillermo Barros Schelotto. Both are tied for third in MLS with 12 goals.
Both teams will be without key players, with Seattle missing forward Nate Jaqua because of yellow card accumulation, and midfielder Michael Fucito and defender Taylor Graham because of injury. Midfielder Sebastien Le Toux is also listed as probable on the team's injury report with a viral illness.
The Crew will be without veteran defender Frankie Hejduk because of yellow card accumulation, and reigning MLS Defender of the Year Chad Marshall because of injury.
