All MLS teams began a month-long break from league play this week to take part in the first ever Leagues Cup along with Mexico’s Liga MX. The Columbus Crew begin Leagues Cup play on Sunday, hosting MLS expansion side St. Louis CITY SC.

This is a first-ever matchup between these two MLS sides that will not play in the regular season. Fans at Lower.com Field could be in for an exciting game as the Crew is first in MLS in goals scored, followed closely by St. Louis.

Head coach Wilfried Nancy does have an additional game suspension after receiving a red card against New York City SC but will serve that after the tournament against FC Cincinnati. With the team’s head coach returning, as well as star striker Cucho Hernandez, Columbus has as many options available for this game as the team has all season, with only defender Will Sands being sidelined due to his ACL injury earlier in the year. 

Here is a look at how we predict the Crew will line up.

Goalkeeper Patrick Schulte will get the start as the team’s undisputed No. 1 after the departure of Eloy Room. The St. Charles, Missouri native will have a chance to play against his hometown team for the first time. 

The biggest question mark for the Black & Gold is their backline. Players have rotated in and out of differing positions along the back three. Milos Degenek’s impending departure from the club adds more intrigue into who Columbus starts in this match. Defender Yevhen Cheberko will make his debut as a left center back with Steven Moreira as the middle center back and Sean Zawadzki as the right center back. 

Wing back Mo Farsi will retain his starting spot in this match, even with new signing Julian Gressel arriving in town. Gressel has been a top-class wing back in MLS and is likely to be the first-choice right wing back eventually. The only reason Gressel does not start is because of how recently he was signed. Joining Farsi will be Malte Amundsen as the left wing back.

Midfielders Aidan Morris and captain Darlington Nagbe retain their starting spots in the center of the pitch. Both players have familiarity with Gressel and will look forward to him joining the team. Morris recently played alongside the German-born American citizen with the national team at the Gold Cup. Nagbe played with Gressel in 2018 and 2019 with Atlanta United, winning the 2018 MLS Cup.

Hernandez will join the first-choice lineup alongside forward Christian Ramirez and playmaker Lucas Zelarayan. Attacking midfielder Alexandru Matan is the odd man out of the Columbus attack, even with his eight assists. Nancy has talked about desiring competition in training to push players and having players like Matan or forward Jacen Russell-Rowe on the bench and pushing for more minutes should bring out the best in the players on the field.