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Since beating Colorado Rapids 2-1 in July last year, FC Toronto are 1-8-15 in 24 MLS starts ( one cleansheet in 25), the solitary win in that sequence came at home to Sporting Kansas City on Matchday 2 of the new season and you can view highlights of that here. SKC had a very bad day at the office, gifted TFC two early goals and were barely in the match until the hour mark, but only the woodwork stopped them getting at least a point out of the game and that, in a match where things could hardly have gone better for Toronto. Coach Ryan Nelsen has a tough job to turn the franchise around and has been busy in the last week or two, bringing in hugely experienced midfielder Bobby Convey from SKC, but he has only played 15 minutes of football in the last 10 weeks, also coming in are Steven Caldwell from Birmingham City and striker Jeremy Brockie from A league football where he score a lot of goals (16 in 24 appearances). I am sure that they will all help, this is a very young squad ( 16 players aged 24 or younger) and the experience of the trio will be invaluable. However, I am equally sure it will take time, the pace of the game in the US is much quicker than many people realise and has caught many out. I doubt Convey is ready, the other two might well see some game time, as Toronto’s need is great, but apart from the pace, they are both coming off long seasons at former clubs and Brockie only made the 15,000 km flight from NZ earlier this week. They also picked up Tal Ben Haim on loan from QPR.

Crew arrive here on the back of home defeats to Red Bulls and Rapids, but could hardly ask for a better opponent on the road, given TFC’s dismal record and how Columbus have totally dominated the series, they have only ever lost once to the Reds in 17 h2h meetings are are unbeaten ( 2-5-0) in games in Ontario.

I think they were unfortunate to lose those two games, they were unbeaten in 12 home starts prior to that and outshot their opponent massively in both defeats, with a combined 37 attempts on goal and had enough chances to have won several games. They are without central defender Chad Marshall (10-0-0) and striker Jairo Arrietta, left back Agustin Viana and defensive midfielder Danny O’Rourke, all of which is going to leave them vunerable defensively.

So we have a home side who cannot win, but look set to improve greatly in the coming weeks and who we need to keep an eye on and a visitor who is suddenly struggling to put the ball in the net, are weakened defensively, but have an incredible record here, against a favourite opponent. The game has draw written all over for me, it is a result both teams could live with and build upon and it has happened on 71% of the occasions these two have met in Toronto. I really like this bet and the odds are on the generous side for a league where the last six rounds have seen a big increase in draws ( up to 29%) 1.5 units draw @ 3.25 +.