Photo courtesy: Columbus Crew

The Columbus Crew return home Saturday following a loss to Inter Miami. The Black & Gold return to the friendly confines of Lower.com Field looking for their first home win since a Concacaf Champions Cup victory against Monterrey. The last MLS home win came at the expense of the New York Red Bulls on March 16th, with the Crew winning by a 3-0 margin. Columbus has only played four home MLS games since the March 16th victory, drawing three times and losing to rivals FC Cincinnati.

Forward Jacen Russell-Rowe made his Copa America debut on Thursday as Canada attempts to get through the group stage. The young Canadian will miss this match due to ongoing international duty. Goalkeeper Evan Bush continues to remain sidelined due to an arm injury, but the urgency to return to fitness will ramp up as the Olympics loom.

Here is how the Black & Gold may line up:

Goalkeeper Patrick Schulte will start in this match as Columbus tries to keep pace with Charlotte FC for the best defensive record. After a disastrous first 20 minutes against Miami, it might be hard to imagine, but the Crew are allowing only 1.06 goals against, second best to Charlotte’s 1.05 goals a game. 

While Columbus is allowing on average 27% fewer goals than their average last season, Miami was able to expose an aggressive defensive line last match for the Crew. Expect the Black & Gold to return to a more balanced defensive backline of defenders Rudy Camacho, Yevhen Cheberko, and Steven Moreira. It should be noted that the backline of defenders Malte Amundsen, Sean Zawadzki, and Moreira started together for the first time last match, which may have led to some of the early match breakdowns. 

Wingback Yaw Yeboah had a positive performance, consistently providing danger down the left flank, and will start again along with wingback Mo Farsi. Wingback Max Arfsten has shown that he is capable of playing on either side of the pitch and will likely make a substitute appearance in this contest.

Midfielder Aidan Morris will start (what appears to be) his farewell match. The young midfielder has won two MLS Cups and blossomed into quite a professional during his time in Columbus, it is much appreciated that Middlesborough and the Crew front office were able to work out a deal that has allowed him to hear Wise Men one last time in Black & Yellow. While fellow midfielder Darlington Nagbe typically dons the captain’s armband, it could be Morris who leads the Crew in his last match. 

Forwards Cucho Hernandez and Diego Rossi will start in this match. Forward Christian Ramirez should start for the Crew. Midfielder Alex Matan did not cover himself in glory last match and winger Marino Hinestroza has seen limited action this MLS season, making only four regular season starts and has not played more than 66 minutes in any of those matches. 

The action begins from a steamy Lower.com Field at 7:30 PM and you can watch the game on MLS Season Pass on Apple TV.