The Columbus Crew returns from the Leagues Cup break with a huge game, hosting FC Cincinnati in another Hell Is Real Derby. Over the last three to four weeks, Crew fans rode the roller coaster of emotions of a big win against Club América, losing a heartbreaking penalty kick shootout against Minnesota United, selling arguably the best player to ever play with the club and multiple new signings. 

So much is different about the Black & Gold since their 3-2 loss against Cincinnati on the road earlier in the year, including the continued suspension of head coach Wilfried Nancy. No longer does Columbus have star playmaker Lucas Zelarayan, but new additions of center back Rudy Camacho, wing back Julian Gressel and new Designated Player forward Diego Rossi. While it was unfortunate that the Crew did not make it further in the Leagues Cup, it has given the new signings time to integrate with the team and develop chemistry to push forward into the latter third of the season.

On the injury front, wing back Wil Sands is the only player unavailable heading into this rivalry game.

Here is how the new-look Black & Gold might line up against FC Cincinnati.

Goalkeeper Patrick Schulte will look to be more focused and determined to redeem himself from his late mistake in the last Hell Is Real Derby. Cincinnati will certainly try and put Schulte under pressure, but the goalkeeper start and will have confidence going into this match after a terrific performance against Club América.

Nancy will put his faith in the newly signed Camacho as the anchor of his backline. Camacho played the last couple of seasons for Nancy at CF Montreal and should need little time to adjust to his play style. Joining the Frenchman on the backline will be defender Steven Moreira. The two countrymen hopefully will gel quickly and sharing the same primary language will help. The left center back position will be held by wing back Malte Amundsen. Center back Yevhen Cheberko struggled in his debut start against Minnesota and a tough rivalry match might be too big of a match for the Ukrainian. Cheberko is certainly part of the Crew’s plans moving forward, but making an adjustment to an unknown league and country can prove challenging.

With Amundsen playing as a center back, winger Yaw Yeboah will continue at left wing back and Julian Gressel will be on the right. Now with a couple more weeks to develop chemistry and understand his responsibilities, Gressel will look to feature prominently for the Black & Gold. 

The midfield will bring the familiar duo of midfielders Aidan Morris and captain Darlington Nagbe. Nagbe, the Crew’s metronome, drew high praise for his performance against Club América and it could be asked if Columbus may have bested Minnesota if the Ohio native had not been subbed off. 

The biggest question of the matchday will be when will Rossi make his appearance. Will it come off the bench or from the opening whistle? Rossi arrived from Fenerbahçe after part of a preseason and while his new teammates are in midseason form but the break in play gave him time to catch. Nancy did not indicate if he would start or not, just that Rossi would play. Nancy did mention being surprised at what the Uruguayan could handle in training. 

With all of. thisin mind, Rossi starts in this match with Cucho Hernandez as a set of two attackers below a central striker in Christian Ramirez. Rossi will start off to the left, while Hernandez will operate closer to the right. The attack will be quite fluid, so the position of the starting lineup will not matter much. There should be a lot of excitement about this team and attack moving forward. Ramirez has scored more goals than most fans expected, while Hernandez is on track to score double digit goals and assists, and Rossi already has a pedigree of scoring goals in this league.