The Crew are winless in their last three matches and have drawn each of its last two in all competitions. After a disappointing midweek draw in the CONCACAF Champions League against Tigres on Tuesday, the Crew are desperate to get back to winning ways before the second leg in Mexico. Standing in their way are their long-time nemesis from the nation’s capital, DC United. DC is much improved from a year ago under new boss Troy Lesesne and has only tasted defeat once this year. Here’s everything you need to know for Saturday and how the Crew can get back to winning ways. 

DC United at a Glance:

Record: 2-3-2, 9 points

League Form: W-D-L-D-D

Leading Scorer: Christian Benteke (4)

Assist Leader: Aaron Herrera (2)

Player to Watch: Christian Benteke

Christian Benteke is spearheading DC United’s revival with a revival of his own in 2024. Benteke is in his 2nd full season with DC and is on track for his most productive year yet with four goals in four matches. The 33-year-old Belgian is a perfect fit for the DC United side as his speed and physical strength make him the ideal target forward for Head Coach Troy Lesesne. Benteke excels in the game’s physical aspect as he can use his 6 ‘3 frame to shield the ball from defenders in build-up play. His height also makes him an elite aerial threat with the ability to win long direct balls and help his side retain possession, as well as being a threat inside the 18-yard box. Benteke thrives on service and gets plenty of it in this DC United system, allowing him to do what he does best, put the ball in the back of the net. 

How DC United play: 

After his stint as the New York Red Bulls interim manager last year, Troy Lesesne has hit the ground running in his first head coaching job. Lesesne has led DC to 9 points in six matches and has the second-highest xG across the league, indicating the effectiveness of Lesesne’s system and how his players have bought into his ideas early in the year. Luckily for the Black & Gold, DC United just played (and beat) Laurent Courtois CF Montreal 1-0 last week. Montreal is the most similar to the Black & Gold in terms of shape, giving the Crew coaching staff (and us) a good idea of what Columbus will likely face on Saturday.

DC are among the more fluid teams in the league when it comes to their shape/formation. DC will regularly change shape from game to game and change shape from moment to moment during the course of any given match. Generally speaking, DC prefers to use either a 4-4-2 or a 4-2-3-1 formation but has a significant number of rotations out of this shape based on the game. 

Defensively, Lesesne has DC set up as a high-intensity, high-pressing side. DC will look to press as high up the field as possible in order to win the ball back as quickly as possible and keep their opponents from getting into a passing rhythm. DC’s main pressing cue is when their opponents play a backward or sideways pass. When these passes are played on Saturday it will trigger the DC pressure. Last week, DC set up in a 4-1-4-1 formation against Montreal’s 3-4-3, I expect DC to do the same on Saturday, giving the Crew an extra player in midfield. 

When DC has the ball, they are generally as direct as possible and look to play to Christian Benteke as much as they can. Their midfielders and wingers will look to win second balls and drive at a disorganized opponents backline. When in possession, DC usually tries to move an outside back higher up the field to give them another player up the field to win these second balls. It also gives Mateusz Klich, Jared Stroud and Ted Ku-DiPetro the chance to drop deeper and gain possession of the ball. DC’s attack thrives on putting their opponents under constant pressure and I expect nothing less on Saturday. 

How the Crew can win:

This would be a great time for the Black & Gold to get back to winning ways in this busy stretch of games as they can continue to add to their MLS point total and gain confidence before their trip to Mexico. DC United present a very difficult challenge for the Black & Gold who are coming off of short rest and fighting the injury bug. In addition to their disadvantages in terms of rest and player availability, DC is built to disrupt the way the Crew want to play and punish some of their weaknesses. Here are a few important things for the Crew to do on Saturday in order to gain all 3 points. 

1. Move DC United’s Pressure Side to Side: The Crew will have the majority of possession in this match, but that could work against them as DC is most dangerous when they’re able to force turnovers with their pressure. To counteract this, the Crew needs to emphasize moving the ball from side to side in this match. Much easier said than done, but the Crew’s ability to execute this on Saturday would stretch DC United’s pressure to un-coverable distances and give the Crew the chance to exploit this space.
2. Defend Crosses from Wide Areas: I wrote on Tuesday that the Crew are struggling to defend crosses and specifically crosses from wide areas. Sure enough, Andre-Pierre Gignac was able to score from a wide cross early on Tuesday. The Crew have now given up 4 goals from crosses this year and the vast majority of them have been without Rudy Camacho. With Camacho listed as questionable at the time of writing, and Christian Benteke’s aerial prowess, this is an area of concern again for Columbus. 

Win Second Balls: The Crew will have to be up for the physical battle on Saturday as they face this DC United team. DC will play direct and look to punish the Crew after winning first and second balls. DC has proven especially dangerous when they are able to win second balls in the attacking third. The Crew midfield and backline will have to be tuned in to these second balls in order to limit DC’s danger and control the match on Saturday.