The Columbus Crew had a fantastic last week, winning 3-0 against rivals FC Cincinnati followed by a 2-0 victory against an older rival, Toronto FC. Not only were these games victories against rivals, but back-to-back shutouts that gave confidence in the team settling into head coach Wilfried Nancy’s system.

After a six-point home stand that saw a couple MLS debuts from summer signings, Columbus will face a big challenge, winning on the road. The Houston Dynamo is 8-2-2 at home and the Crew will be traveling there on short rest with another road trip to Montreal on Saturday. This is a tough task, and with Nancy’s homecoming on Saturday, there may be heavy rotation on an almost 100-degree Wednesday night. The last time the Black & Gold traveled to the Western Conference, they lost 3-2 against Portland.

The Crew have maintained good health, as only defender Will Sands will miss this game due to injury. Columbus will be forced to make a substitution at left center back, as defender Malte Amundsen is suspended due to yellow card accumulation.

The heat and fatigue will impact this match. The Crew would do well to utilize substitutes earlier in the match so that the players who will start against Montreal will have as much fitness as possible.

Here is how we predict the Black & Gold will line up against Houston:

After posting back-to-back shutouts, goalkeeper Patrick Schulte will start again. Schulte is growing into the league and has made the starting position his own It has been satisfying to watch and Crew fans should be excited.

Defender Yevhen Cheberko will be thrust into the starting lineup with Amundsen’s suspension. Joining Cheberko will be the Frenchmen defenders Rudy Camacho and Steven Moreira. Moreira has played the most minutes of any Crew player this year and has been so vitally important to how this team wants to play. That being said, Columbus should look to rotate him for defender Gustavo Vallecilla at some point in the match so that Moreira will have full fitness for the match in Montreal.

Winger Yaw Yeboah will get another start as the left wing back while the Black & Gold opt to rest Julian Gressel for wing back Mohamed Farsi. Farsi has contributed significant minutes for the first team and has shown the endurance the team will need on a difficult night in Texas. Allowing Gressel to come in off the bench will give the team a late push if needed while keeping the German fresh for the matchup in Montreal.

It will be a tough task to ask both midfielders Darlington Nagbe and Aidan Morris to go a full 90 minutes in this match. Instead, Nancy will start Nagbe, the captain, alongside Sean Zawadzki. Morris can run for days, but Zawadzki has proven he can be trusted as part of the starting XI. Zawadski has shown flashes of offensive brilliance, but his role may be more to rotate into the defense as Moreira or Cheberko pushes forward. While it goes against the team’s identity, Columbus may try to keep the game level and make attack-minded substitutions later in the second half.

After making his first start for the Crew, forward Diego Rossi will not start in this game. Rossi has been able to handle more than the coaching staff thought, but starting three matches in a week would be difficult. Instead, Columbus will lean on creative midfielder Alexandru Matan. Matan has eight assists on the year and has proven to be a reliable option in the attack. The Crew will rely on forward Cucho Hernandez for his star power in this match. Hernandez was visibly frustrated after not scoring on 12 shots on Saturday with many narrow misses. Joining Matan and Hernandez will be Jacen Russell-Rowe who has earned a start, scoring off the bench in his last two matches and recording an assist in a start against Portland.