Two of MLS’ heavyweights will be in action Saturday night, as the Whitecaps travel eastward to take on the Columbus Crew in a matchup of two teams who, on paper, look a lot alike.

Like many Eastern Conference teams, the Caps don’t see the Crew all that much — this is the first matchup between the two teams since 2022. Vancouver has never faced them during the Wilfried Nancy era, one which has supercharged the Crew into one of MLS’ most fascinating and dominant sides.

If there is a team that seemingly fits the mould of what Jesper Sorensen is trying to instill in Vancouver, it is Nancy’s Crew teams. They are consistently at the top of the league in possession (literally number one this year) and use short passes and lovely, attractive build up play to bend the opposition to their will.

That will make the matchup with Vancouver interesting, as there is only one ball and both teams seem likely to want it. The Crew will be at a disadvantage, as much of the chance creation flows from their wingbacks, notably Max Arfsten. But Arfsten is away with Brian White, Sebastian Berhalter and the U.S. Men’s National Team camp, creating a wrinkle for the Crew to overcome.

They still have plenty of talent to overcome that, however. Diego Rossi has 10 goal contributions as he tries to step up and be the man, with Cucho Hernandez sold in the offseason. Dylan Chambost and Sean Zawadzki have taken a step forward in central midfield and the backline of Malte Amundsen, Evgen Cheberko and Steven Moreira is generally pretty dependable.

But it hasn’t been smooth sailing. The Crew sit in fifth and while they persist in playing attractive, engaging football, it hasn’t resulted in quite as many goals. Daniel Gazdag was brought in to replace Cucho, given his status as a known MLS quantity, but it hasn’t quite worked and Gazdag hasn’t quite looked comfortable in the system.

Injuries have taken their toll as well. Zawadzki is out for much of the summer, while Patrick Schulte and Rudy Camacho, key cogs to stabilize the backline, will likely miss the Caps match. This caught up with Columbus, who were battered 5-1 by Inter Miami last time out (a team that of course has its own problems to worry about at the moment). Making matters worse, Amundsen picked up a knock against Charlotte last time out and is unavailable for a few weeks.

It isn’t as if the Caps won’t have their own challenges. Pedro Vite, Tate Johnson and Andres Cubas should return, but the Gold Cup bound players will not, obviously. That didn’t matter last weekend, but Seattle right now aren’t on the level of the Crew. And Columbus has generally built a fortress at home, despite two losses there this season to LAFC and Miami.

The tactical matchup here will be interesting, with the Caps perhaps happy to cede possession a bit more than usual, not unlike parts of the match against Seattle. I’d imagine they’ll still try and find moments to dictate play (and not go full Robbo ball) but it will probably look a bit different given the nature of the opponent.

The Caps have, much like the Crew, not let circumstances keeping them from playing how they want to play, but this will be one of their stiffest tests yet. The road is about to get tougher the next half dozen or so matches and some of the depth pieces who stood out against Seattle will be called upon again here. It is a shame we aren’t getting a matchup of these two teams at full strength — that could be a future MLS Cup matchup.

In any event, this is must see TV and the most compelling matchups of the weekend. Given the Crew’s recent form, the Caps will likely have their tails up and will be looking to get a result. But doing so, away at Columbus, would be impressive. Still, with the Crew being shorthanded, this is as good of a time as any to catch them and see if Sorensen and the players can continue working their magic.