Toronto FC-Crew Preview

Jozy Altidore enjoyed quite a return to MLS last weekend in his Toronto FC debut.

He next faces the Columbus Crew SC, which may bring back some pleasant memories.

The forward scored his first MLS goal more than eight years ago against the Crew, who are unbeaten in 10 straight home openers heading into this one Saturday night.

Toronto, in its ninth year with no postseason berths, made a pair of huge pickups in the offseason in star forwards Altidore of the United States and Sebastian Giovinco of Italy. Those two combined brilliantly for the first goal last Saturday, with Giovinco assisting to Altidore, who added a second goal in a 3-1 comeback victory at Vancouver in the club's opener.

"You want to hit the ground running as a team, individually, so there's no better way to do that than as a performance like that against one of our rivals," Altidore said.

Altidore was a 19-year-old playing his second MLS match with New York when he scored against Columbus in a 1-0 victory Sept. 16, 2006. He has never scored at Crew Stadium in MLS or with the U.S.

The Crew, who fell 1-0 at Houston in their opener last Saturday, have rebranded with a new name and new logo this year. They are 5-0-5 in their last 10 home openers, including a 2-0-1 mark in such games against Toronto.

Columbus dropped its opener despite an 18-8 edge in overall shots.

"The vibe is good," coach Gregg Berhalter told the Crew's official website. "We want to build on last week's performance, improve on last week's performance and open up the season in front of our home fans."

Toronto outscored Columbus 8-4 in winning all three meetings last season after going 2-10-7 in the first 19 matchups.

The Crew will welcome back Justin Meram, who was suspended last weekend and scored twice last year against Toronto.

Now the club must replace Tony Tchani, who was suspended for a violent tackle last weekend even though it resulted in only a yellow card. Tchani partners in central midfield with Will Trapp.

"It's a loss," Trapp said. "Tony is obviously one of the best midfielders in the league, and he's a great player for us. So it's not great not having him in there, but at the same time we can adjust and I think we'll be fine."

Toronto is tasked with slowing down Crew star Federico Higuain, who had a team-high 12 goals last year. Higuain has six goals and two assists in seven games against TFC.

"He's a guy who moves around the field pretty freely," TFC coach Greg Vanney said. "Some people like to go man on man, it's hard to do that with a guy who moves so much so I think you have to be clearly aware of where he is at all times."

Toronto is playing its first seven games on the road due to renovations at BMO Field. The club has become a target for opponents due to its high-priced signings, with Berhalter saying that "we see Toronto as a rival although we don't spend as much money as them and we have different budgets."