Columbus (14-6-5) at New England (12-7-6)

The Columbus Crew and New England Revolution had been waging a tight battle for first place in the Eastern Conference through the first five months of the season. Over the past month, however, the Crew have started to pull away.

Columbus will try to take a big step toward clinching the East’s top seed on Saturday in New England as it looks for its sixth win in seven games.

On Aug. 22, the Revolution (12-7-6) had 36 points, the most in the league. They led second-place Chicago by one and third-place Columbus by two for the top spot in the East.

Since then, the Crew (14-6-5) have been practically flawless. Columbus has gone 4-0-1 in its last five matches, part of a six-game unbeaten streak to climb five points clear of New England - which is 1-1-3 in its last five - for the league’s best overall record.

The Crew became the first team to clinch a playoff spot in their latest game. After giving up an early goal to New York’s Juan Pablo Angel on Sept. 18, Columbus scored the final three goals - including defender Frankie Hejduk’s first in more than three years - to top the Red Bulls 3-1 at Crew Stadium.

It’s the first time since 2004 that the Crew have made the playoffs.

“It feels good,” said defender Chad Marshall, a rookie in 2004 when Columbus won the Supporters’ Shield, given to the team with the best regular-season record. “It’s long overdue for us - long overdue for the fans.”

One of the Crew’s five wins during their six-match points streak was a decisive victory over the Revolution on Sept. 6. Guillermo Barros Schelotto scored a goal and had two of his league-leading 18 assists as Columbus beat New England 4-0.

That was the last game that Schelotto, one of the league’s leading MVP candidates, has played. He sat out a 1-1 draw against Toronto on Sept. 13 and the win over New York with a left hamstring strain, and he’s questionable against New England.

“It depends on how he feels each day,” coach Sigi Schmid said. “It’s a decision we’ll make as it gets closer to game time.

“We’re a good team with him on the field and we’ve also shown we can play well without him.”

The Revolution have only lost once since Aug. 16, but three ties in their other six matches have allowed Columbus to overtake them.

New England left its latest game with one point after Kenny Mansally scored the team’s lone goal in a 1-1 draw at Colorado last Saturday.

The Revolution, though, immediately turned their attention to the rematch with Columbus - not only because of its implications in the standings, but as a source of revenge following their recent 4-0 loss.

“We’re a different team now,” New England goalkeeper Matt Reis said. “We’re all rested and hopefully we can show the true team we are. I don’t think the last game and the last result were true indications of the true team we are.”

Reis posted one of his six shutouts on May 24 in Columbus, a 1-0 Revolution win.

The Crew, who haven’t played in New England this season, were 1-0-1 at Gillette Stadium in 2007.