San Diego FC is not playing like an expansion club and as such is ready to go against one of the premier teams in MLS when they host the Columbus Crew on Saturday.

There’s a good reason San Diego (2-0-1, 7 points) brims with confidence after securing a 3-1 win at Real Salt Lake last Saturday thanks to the go-ahead goal by Danish forward Anders Dreyer in the 91st minute. He became the first player in MLS history to score two winning goals within the first three matches of an expansion team’s debut season.

“The way we built this team is we trust each other,” Dreyer said. “The whole project, it’s a new club, and everybody is willing to work hard from the players to staff.”

The Crew (2-0-1,7 points) are still figuring out how to replace forward Cucho Hernandez, who transferred to Real Betis of La Liga before the season.

Columbus was scoreless in two matches, one in MLS and another in CONCACAF Champions Cup play in the first leg vs. Los Angeles FC, before scoring twice in the return match against LAFC, a 2-1 win on Tuesday, to ease some of the anxiety.

The Crew was eliminated from the tournament on total goals but coach Wilfried Nancy is optimistic better days are ahead.

“Yes, we’re out of the competition, but this is only the beginning of the season,” he said. “The idea is I wanted my players to take the time to reflect about what they did. The outcome is not what we wanted, but I think that it could be good for the future.”

The Crew relies heavily on Diego Rossi and Jacen Russell-Rowe. They scored vs. LAFC and each has two goals in league competition.

San Diego defender Chris McVey is impressed by Rossi, who led MLS in goals in 2020 while playing for LAFC, but said a group effort is needed to keep him contained.

“He’s a good player but as a collective that’s what we’re more focused on, what we want to do as a team and how we want to defend collectively,” McVey said.

-Field Level Media