Daniel Gazdag made the blockbuster switch from Philadelphia Union to Columbus Crew and is ready to make an impact for his new side against St. Louis City SC in MLS on Sunday.
The midfielder is under contract until 2025, with the option for 2026, where the crew sees it as a “no-brainer” to add him to their ranks when they found out that he was available.
The crew has started the season strongly and has become unbeaten over their seven games so far (W4 D3) to sit at 15 points at the top of the Eastern Conference.
Gazdag left Philadelphia as their leading goal scorer (72 goals in all competitions), and he has great hope of what he can do with the crew.
“It is a very successful franchise, especially because I have been in the competition for the past four years,” said Gazdag. “They have won so many large titles.
“So it makes me proud to become a member of a club such as the Columbus crew, and it makes me very happy that I play for a club that actually plays every year for winning titles.”
Although it is not yet clear whether he will start in St. Louis, Gazdag is big to go: “I know I will be available.”
For the Crest & For Columbus pic.twitter.com/S7VCKDK2CK
– The crew (@ColumbusCrew) April 12, 2025
St. Louis has had difficulty in recent weeks. After having made an undefeated start of the season by winning two and drawing two of their first four games, they have since lost their last four on the bounce.
They also failed to score in their last three trips, making them 11th in the Western Conference, although they could fall, depending on the results of Saturday.
Despite their recent dip, Marcel Hartel believes, who had attracted interest from Columbus before he came to St. Louis, the team will benefit from the focus of Olof Mellberg on defensive stability as the season progresses.
“I think we had a lot of focus on our defense, defense line in the beginning [not] Give so many goals, because in the past season, when you see how many goals, you can see that it was way too much, “said Hartel.
“But now we have to start changing, because we now see our defense working, and now we have to go a bit for our attack line, because you can see that we have only shot four goals.
“We don't create so many opportunities, but we will get used to it – and we will train it every day.”
Players to watch
St. Louis City SC – Conrad Wallem
The 2-0 loss of St. Louis on Saturday was the fifth time that the club did not score this season in their first seven games (scored four goals in general).
However, it was not because of the lack of trying, with Conrad Wallem the most important enforcer. He had three attempts in that defeat, with two of those who hit the target. He was also responsible for 0.47 of the 1.1 expected goals from St. Louis (XG).
Columbus Crew-Jacen Russell-Rowe
Jacen Russell-Rowe had a goal and an assist in the victory of the crew at CF Montreal last Saturday.
It marked the 52nd time that Wilfried Nancy in 2023 crew head coach became a crew player to include multiple target contributions in a competition, more than any other MLS team at the time.
𝗦𝘂𝗻𝗱𝗮𝘆 𝗦𝗼𝗰𝗰𝗲𝗿 𝗦𝗼𝗰𝗰𝗲𝗿 𝗦𝗧𝗟 𝗦𝗧𝗟 𝗦𝗧𝗟 𝗦𝗧𝗟 #allforCity x @WWT_inc pic.twitter.com/win16850NX
– St Louis City SC (@stlcitySC) April 12, 2025
Match forecast: Columbus Crew Win
The only earlier meeting between St. Louis City and Columbus was a 2-1 victory for the crew in St. Louis in the group stage of the 2023 Leagues Cup.
For the second time in club history, Columbus opened a season undefeated in seven straight matches (first eight in 2010). The crew is unbeaten in eight consecutive regular season races (W5 D3) dating from last August.
In the meantime, after opening the season unbeaten in four (W2 D2), St. Louis has lost three in a row. This is their third three-match regular season losing streak, although they have never dropped four league games in a row.
Opta wins probability
St. Louis City SC – 27.2%
Drawing – 23.9%
Columbus Crew – 48.9%
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