Massive Predictions: Crew vs. Toronto FC

Last week did not end how most Columbus Crew supporters expected. Up 3-1 against the San Jose Earthquakes with 15 minutes to go, the Black & Gold gave up two set piece goals and left California with two fewer points than it seemed.

Just as the Crew’s result was unfavorable, so were the predictions from the Massive Report staff. Nobody selected the correct outcome, but still return this week to predict the outcome of Saturday’s match versus Toronto FC.

Here are the match prediction standings so far, after two matches:

Let’s see what the group thinks about this weekend’s matchup.

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Adam Miller

After a collapse of epic proportions in San Jose, the Crew returns to Columbus for the first iteration of the 2022 Trillium Cup. Trillium Cup rivals Toronto FC enter this match after being dismantled by the New York Red Bull 4-1 in their home opener. Toronto is still searching for its identity and figuring out how to win with the team’s aging midfield.

The Crew seems to be very confident in who the team is and what it is about in 2022, and this is a great chance for them to show it. The Crew will take care of business at home against TFC and establish control in the Trillium Cup. A slow first half will be capped off with Yaw Yeboah’s first goal for the club. Milos Degenek will score off a corner and Luis Diaz will put it out of reach before Toronto pull back a consolation goal late.
Columbus Crew 3 Toronto FC 1

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Brian Moracz

The Columbus Crew come off a disappointing away draw at the San Jose Earthquakes, but the shining light through the first two weeks of this young season has been the Crew’s ability to put the ball in the back of the net. The Black & Gold have scored seven goals through their first two matches, a milestone they did not reach until their seventh match in 2021.

While I don’t expect this goal-scoring barrage to continue the whole season, I do expect it to continue into this week’s match at home against Toronto FC. The Black & Gold flex their goal-scoring muscle again against the pre-Lorenzo Insigne Reds, with goals from both Lucas Zelarayan and Yaw Yeboah, who opens his Crew account.
Columbus Crew 2 Toronto FC 1

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Caleb Denorme

The first edition of the Trillium Cup in 2022 is here! I think the Crew can respond to the collapse in San Jose in a big way by getting a home win against Toronto. I think the Black & Gold come out strong in the cold and pick up a win, goals courtesy of Gyasi Zardes and Derrick Etienne Jr. The defense will respond in a big way, keeping a clean sheet and getting back to winning ways.
Columbus Crew 2 Toronto FC 0

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Collin Johnson

The Crew is a sloppily defended corner kick (and missed VAR shout/overlong stoppage time) away from a six-point start to the season. On the other side, Trillium Cup rivals Toronto FC is lucky to have a single point from the team’s first two matches. Sure, Toronto made some splashy offseason signings, but Lorenzo Insigne won’t arrive until the summer while Carlos Salcedo misses Saturday’s match following a deserved retroactive red card. Through the two matches thus far, Toronto has possessed the ball but created little in the way of chances. Columbus has done well to convert chances thus far and that won’t change on Saturday.
Columbus Crew 2 Toronto FC 1

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Drew McDaniel

After a frustrating tie in San Jose, head coach Caleb Porter will have his boys motivated at home for a win. Lucas Zelarayan will keep up his red hot form scoring two goals while forward Miguel Berry finds the score sheet again. Luiz Diaz will have a late-game score as Porter will not allow his team to switch off as they did in San Jose.
Columbus Crew 4 Toronto FC 0

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Grant Miller

Sub-30 degrees and potential snow in Columbus. Saturdays afternoon start might also cause a rough go of it early on. With that said, let’s see the boys bounce back after last week. An angry Caleb Porter-led squad at home is good for three points.
Columbus Crew 1 Toronto FC 0

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John Pearson

Last week, Columbus went down early to the Earthquakes by not being ready for the attack and making errors in preparation. Crew fans may have been a little too excited that this team had jelled after one game. It’s going to take some time. However, through two matches, Columbus has proven that the attack can be lethal, and is able to coast the opposing team into making mistakes, giving the Crew an advantage in personnel. While the Black & Gold still need to capitalize on those advantages, the more opportunities that attack, led by Lucas Zelarayán faces against fewer or simply timid defenders, the more goals will come.

The Toronto defense has been exploitable this season and has struggled to have any stability in the defense from the fullbacks. Look for Zelarayán to try to find Derrick Etienne Jr. and Yaw Yeboah in open areas to cut inside. I’m going with a Zelarayán goal, because it’s the easiest thing to bet on in the MLS right now, while also collecting an assist from a Yeboah goal, as well as Berry getting back on the score sheet.
Columbus Crew 3 Toronto FC 0

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Kyle Jackson

Riddled with the continuation of defensive woes from last season, the Columbus Crew will enter the match against Toronto on Saturday with a defensive mindset eager to prevent what we witnessed last weekend in San Jose. That being said, Toronto FC enters this game with only two goals on the season after being throttled by an energetic and accurate Lewis Morgan and New York Red Bulls team last weekend.

If past results and performances are anything to go off of, in the team’s last five home games against the Reds, the Crew has drawn three of those games and with the forecast set to be an absolutely brutal one on Saturday, I’d say a draw is likely once again. Toronto will nab one in the first half while Gyasi Zardes will save the day in the second.
Columbus Crew 1 Toronto FC 1

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Nathan Townsend

As disappointing as the Crew’s performance to close out last week was, this team has proved that they can score. With seven goals over two games, the Black & Gold will continue their scoring form against a Toronto team that has been anything but impressive so far. I know I said this last week but Gyasi Zardes will get the start this week and he and Lucas Zelarayán will both contribute a goal as the Crew continues the team’s unbeaten start.
Columbus Crew 2 Toronto FC 0

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Patrick Murphy

We all know how last week ended so certainly the Crew players do as well. Head coach Caleb Porter said after the game that the Black & Gold need to learn from giving up a late two-goal lead so something like that doesn’t happen again. If that happens, we could look back on last Saturday as a blessing in disguise.

Toronto FC hasn’t started the season well with a draw and a loss. New head coach Bob Bradley is still figuring out how to run his new team, but he certainly will, especially once reinforcements arrive this summer. I think this is a good time for the Black & Gold to face TFC and can continue the good start to the 2022 season.
Columbus Crew 2 Toronto FC 1

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Ryan Schmitt

I don’t know what to think of Toronto. TFC brings in a proven winner and starter for the Italian national team this summer and the team just lost to New York Red Bull 4-1 at home, with 68 percent possession and 700 attempted passes. I don’t anticipate the Crew to dominate possession, but if the Black & Gold can possess and produce quality chances, they’ll win this Trillium Cup match.
Columbus Crew 2 Toronto FC 0

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Theodore Sovinski

Toronto has stumbled in the early days of the team’s rebuild and new coach Bob Bradley might take his first two results of the season as a sign to lock it down before reinforcements arrive this summer. The Crew will win with a goal from Gyasi Zardes but I expect the game to be a grind.
Columbus Crew 1 Toronto FC 0

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Thomas Costello

A chilly and windy day at Lower.com Field is a recipe for a close, kind of ugly, match. Both the Crew and Toronto FC are coming into this game with disappointing results in their last matches, so Saturday’s match won’t be short on motivation.

The Black & Gold will come out on top, but it will be close. Crosses will be tough in the wind forecasted, so it’ll come down to how the midfield can make moves and shoot, opening Lucas Zelarayan up for another big match. Gyasi Zardes scores off a rebound and Columbus is able to hold back Toronto. It won’t be as high scoring, but three points are three points.
Columbus Crew 1 Toronto FC 0

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Tyler Fisher

Well, who would’ve thought that was the outcome last week? But it’s a new week and a new opponent and it's time to move on. Columbus is still on the right track and it’s only two games into the season. Now we welcome in an old friend. The Crew welcomes in Toronto FC for another rendition of the Trillium Cup rivalry.

A 3-3 draw is not ideal for the Crew, but the team can take all that anger of not closing out a game and put it towards the Saturday matinee against the Canadians, who in return come into this match after getting throttled at home by the New York Red Bulls. Toronto is no slouch, so we shouldn’t count them out. However, if Columbus can hold the opposition in the last 10 minutes, and the offense can score goals, it’s an easy win for the Crew to remain unbeaten.
Columbus Crew 2 Toronto FC 0

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