The Columbus Crew travels to the Bronx on Saturday to take on New York City FC. This comes at potentially a good time for the Crew as City is on an eight-game winless run.

Unfortunately for the Black & Gold, this match falls during an international window where star playmaker Lucas Zelarayan is unavailable. Goalkeeper Eloy Room joins Zelarayan on international duty, away with Curaçao. Room has not featured for Columbus since mid-March and has dealt with injury issues since his last international absence. Midfielder Aidan Morris also was called up for international duty with the United States for the Gold Cup, but he will not miss this match.

There was one change to the Crew’s injury report this week. Center back Gustavo Vallecilla was upgraded from out to questionable, while defenders Milos Degenek and Will Sands remain out. 

Keeping all that in mind, let’s take a look at how we predict the Black & Gold to line up at Yankee Stadium.

With Room gone on international duty, there will not be any goalkeeper controversy as Patrick Schulte will start in goal. Room is one of Curacao’s most vital players and they could use his locker room presence even if he is unable to play. He has recently returned from injury and Crew fans will hope Room does not reaggravate the issue while on international duty again.

If it is not broken why fix it? That might be the mentality with the defensive structure heading into the match against NYCFC. Wing back Malte Amundsen and full back Steven Moreira will once again fill in at center back, with Moreira in the middle and Amundsen on the left, while midfielder Sean Zawadzki plays as the right center back. While this group has not held an opponent scoreless, the results have been positive with three players playing out of position. Expect this to be the starting back three until the transfer window opens and new signing Yevhen Cheberko can join the team, or till Degenek or Vallecilla get healthy.

With Amundsen the most viable option at left center back for the time being, midfielder Yaw Yeboah will start as the left wing back. Yeboah has shown growth in this role, making meaningful contributions in the last couple of months, including his defensive positioning. Wing back Mohamed Farsi will play as the right wing back. 

Captain Darlington Nagbe will pair alongside Aidan Morris in the midfield. While Columbus has plenty of firepower in the attack, Nagbe should have a larger role moving forward with Zelarayan out of the lineup. 

Replacing Zelarayan in the starting 11 will be midfielder Alexandru Matan who had his best game of the season the last time Zelarayan was on international duty and will hope to replicate that. Matan will get help from forwards Cucho Hernandez and Christian Ramirez. Even though Zelarayan, who has eight goals and seven assists, will miss this match, the front line of Hernandez, Matan and Ramirez have a total of 24 goal contributions (10 goals and 14 assists).