Columbus Crew vs Atlanta United Prediction: No chance for complacency

With both teams winning 1 of the first 2 legs of the playoffs, they will now face each other for the last time in game 3 to determine who advances to the next round. Columbus Crew won the first leg 2-0 and then Atlanta United won the second leg 4-2. This time, Atlanta United will be taking the trip to Lower.com field, where they have failed to win since August 2021.

The Crew hoped to end the series with a second win over Atlanta United but they failed to win the game and lost 4-2 instead.

They beat Atlanta United 2-0 in the first leg, with Cucho Hernandez scoring a double in both halves of the game. Unfortunately in the return leg, they were outplayed by a comfortable Atlanta United side. Cucho Hernandez found the back of the net to draw The Crew level after Atlanta's opening goal. And in the dying minutes of the first half, Columbus Crew went behind after conceding another goal. The second half was worse for The Crew as Atlanta grabbed 2 extra goals before they got their second goal through Maximilian Arfsten.

Columbus Crew are back playing at home and their record shows they are quite confident at home against Atlanta United. They won 2 of their last 3 games against Atlanta United on home soil, including the 6-1 win back in March.

Atlanta United breathed a sigh of relief in their last game after they cruised to a 4-2 win at home against Columbus Crew. They started the series with a 2-0 defeat away to Columbus Crew in the first leg. And in the second leg, they won 4-2. Giogors Giakoumakis scored Atlanta's first goal, and Xande Silva doubled their lead. They got a firmer grip on the game in the second half, with Edwin Mosquera and Thiago Almada both finding the back of the net to seal the 4-2 win at full time.

Atlanta United will need to work hard to reproduce those performances in this game.

They now face the ultimate test of beating Columbus Crew at the Lower.com field. They failed to win on that ground since 2021. And they suffered a 6-1 defeat there back in March this year.

Columbus Crew and Atlanta United played 20 matches in the past. Columbus Crew won 11 matches, while Atlanta United won 7 matches and 2 matches ended in a draw.

Both sides will need to throw caution to the wind if they must progress. Both teams have shown how good they are after winning both legs. So we can expect both attacks to keep us busy in this game.

Analysis shows, 5 of their last 7 meetings ended with more than 2.5 goals and both teams scored in 6 of their 7 meetings against each other.

Atlanta United have not kept a clean sheet in their last 14 matches against Columbus Crew.

• More than 3 Goals at 1.86 Odds
• Under 10.5 Corners at 1.63 Odds
• Home Win at 1.60 Odds