Columbus Crew v New York Red Bulls: Nancy looking for ‘collective’ contribution ahead of playoffs

Columbus Crew head coach Wilfried Nancy is targeting a “collective” impact from his side as they prepare for their final regular-season game.

The Crew, who are still within a chance of securing an automatic playoff spot after their 1-1 draw against Orlando City, host the New York Red Bulls in their final match.

Columbus must defeat NYRB at Lower.com Field and rely on the Chicago Fire and Orlando to drop points to move into the top seven of the Eastern Conference.

Nancy believes his side can succeed if they play the way they did against Orlando, where they were boosted by the returns of Diego Rossi, Sean Zawadzki and Lassi Lappalainen.

“Good for the team that everyone can have an impact. This is what I’m looking for,” said Nancy after their victory against Orlando.

“This is not only individual players; this is the collective aspect. I think that it was a good game individually, but also, it was a good game collectively.

“Like I said, it could have been better on certain things, but I really like the personality. We played with personality.

“It was good for Sean to come back. It was good for Diego to come back. I’m happy also for Lassi because he was so important.

“We know that he was not able to last for a long time, but the idea was to give him the possibility to express himself. In terms of what he did, he was good.”

Disfrutando los momentos mas importantes con Diego Rossi

Diego Rossi talks about his heritage, traditions that bring his family together, and representing his culture in the MLS.#Crew96 | @SherwinWilliams pic.twitter.com/dyj80HNUEr

— The Crew (@ColumbusCrew) October 14, 2025

The Red Bulls, however, will be playing for pride as they can no longer qualify for the postseason.

NYRB are eight points behind Columbus in 10th place after winning just once in their last six MLS games.

PLAYERS TO WATCH

Columbus Crew – Diego Rossi

Rossi has recorded at least 20 goal contributions in both 2024 and 2025, scoring 16 goals and providing four assists this season.

He’s the second Crew player to notch consecutive regular seasons with 20+ goal contributions over the last 25 seasons, joining Cucho Hernandez (2023-24).

New York Red Bulls – Emil Forsberg

Emil Forsberg has recorded 11 goals and 10 assists this regular season, directly contributing to a goal in three of his last four games.

He’s the first Red Bulls player with at least 10 assists in a season since Alejandro Romero in 2018 and the first to have at least 10 goals and 10 assists in a season since Thierry Henry in 2014.

MATCH PREDICTION – COLUMBUS CREW WIN

The Crew have won their regular-season home finale in each of the last 11 seasons. Columbus have scored multiple goals in all those matches, outscoring their opponents 29-6 while recording six clean sheets.

NYRB have lost seven of their last 12 games after only losing seven times in their first 21. The Red Bulls have lost back-to-back matches but haven’t lost three straight in a single season since August-September 2023.

Columbus have won three straight regular-season home games against NYRB, but the Red Bulls did defeat the Crew in Columbus during last season’s MLS Cup playoffs. It is the Crew’s longest home winning streak against the Red Bulls in the regular season since a four-game run from 2007-10.

In their last six league matches, Columbus have won one, drawn three and lost two. New York, meanwhile, have won one, drawn one and lost four in their last six.

OPTA WIN PROBABILITY

Columbus Crew – 54.7%

Draw – 23.3%

New York Red Bulls – 22.0%