By the Numbers: #CLBvNE

With the New England Revolution set to take on the Columbus Crew in the Eastern Conference Semifinals, New England Soccer Today took a look at how the two clubs stack up in some key statistical areas.

Scoring Breakdown: The Crew generated most of their offense from open play, scoring 36 of their goals during the open course of play, ranking fifth in the league.  This accounted for 69.2 percent of their goals, which ranked sixth overall in the MLS in higher percentage of goals.  Meanwhile, the Revolution finished tied for fifth in the MLS with 11 goals from set pieces, which contributed to 21.6% of their total goals on the season.  A breakdown of goals by type is as follows:

Despite a lower number and percentage of goals from free kicks, the Crew lead the MLS in free kick passing accuracy, with 81.4 percent.  The Revolution are in 16^th by this measure with 68.42 percent accuracy.

Shooting From Distance: The Revolution rank second in the MLS in shots outside the box, on a percentage basis, only trailing Vancouver’s 53 percent.  However, the Revolution also rank fifth in the MLS in shots inside the 6 yard box, with 7 percent.  Columbus takes a majority of their shots in the 18 yard box (52%) but struggles to get within 6 yards, as they are second to last, only behind Vancouver, in this category.

Straight Down The Middle: Columbus is fourth in the MLS with 66% of their attempts coming from the middle of the field.  The Revolution have the 3^rd highest percentage of shots faced coming from the middle of the field, but attack from the side themselves more than most with only 58% of their shots coming from the middle.  That ranks 17^th out of 19 teams.

Applying the Pressure: New England leads the MLS in time spent in the opposition’s third (32%).  While the Columbus Crew are in the middle of the pack in time spent in the opposing third, they spend the most time with the ball in their own half (29%).

Chicks Dig The Long Ball: The Revolution only trail the Colorado Rapids in long balls per game, with 73, while their 16 crosses per game is 18^th out of 19 in the MLS.  The Crew have a different approach in their passing game, with 22 crosses per game (good for third in the MLS) and 62 long balls per game, ranking ninth in the league.

However, the Crew make the most out of their long passes with 38.3 long balls completed per game, which is third most in the league.  The Revolution are middle of the pack in completed long balls per game, with 34.1, and have the third lowest completion percentage (47.5%) on long balls.

Pass Completion and Possession: The Columbus Crew are first in the MLS in passing accuracy, completing 82.4 percent of their passes.  The Revolution have completed 76.0 percent, ranking 17^th in the league.  The Columbus Crew rank third in the MLS in possession with 53.2 percent over the course of the season. The Revolution rank 14^th in the MLS with 48.6 percent.

Hitting The Mark: The Columbus Crew are fourth in the MLS in shots per game with 13.9, but the Revolution are close behind in sixth with 13.8.  The Revolution have been more efficient with their shots, with 5.3 of their shots being recorded as on target, good for third in the league, while they rank near the bottom (14^th of 19 MLS teams) in shots off target with 4.9 shots per game.  New England is one of two MLS teams with more shots on target than off target, with the other team being the Seattle Sounders.  The Columbus Crew are eighth in the league with 4.7 shots on frame, but second in shots off target with 6.2 per game.

Scouting Report: The Columbus Crew’s preferred formation is a 4-2-3-1, starting with this formation in 22 of their 34 matches and compiling a 7-8-7 record in those matches.  The Crew also have an effective 4-4-1-1 formation, going 6-2-2 in this formation.  Team leaders are presented in the table below.

*According to whoscored.com; Minimum 20 Games