The Columbus Crew travels to Houston on Wednesday to begin its journey in the Concacaf Champions Cup. The Black & Gold begin play in the continental competition just four days removed from a 1-1 draw on the road at Minnesota United. Cross-country trips are never easy in MLS, much less two within a week! Expect Columbus to rotate a few starters in this contest, especially as Houston is down a few players due to injury. If the result does not favor the Crew, expect a full-strength squad in the home leg of the CCC series.

Wingback Mo Farsi did not make the bench over the weekend and it is doubtful he makes the journey to the Lone Star State while recovering from his ankle injury. Other than Farsi, the Crew are healthy but due to the quick turnaround it should not shock anyone to see new faces in the starting XI.

Here is how the Crew could line up.

Goalkeeper Patrick Schulte will likely start in this match. Last season goalkeeper Evan Bush played the majority of the League’s Cup matches while Schulte only featured in the 4-1 victory over Club America. 

Schulte will need to communicate well as the backline will see some rotation, as defender Yehvan Cheberko gets his first start of the season at left center back. Sean Zawadzki will man the middle of the backline with defender Steven Moreira donning the captain’s armband as the right center back.

Wing back Will Sands will get the start as the left wing back while wing back Max Arfsten will man the right. Due to Farsi’s injury the right wing back position does not have much depth behind Arfsten, maybe head coach Wilfried Nancy can cook up an interesting tactical shift and work a player one does not expect into that position. 

In the midfield, Aidan Morris will start again but the typical captain, Darlington Nagbe, will be on the bench. While Nagbe might be fine to play, it would be wise to manage his minutes as the Black & Gold look to host Chicago over the weekend. Next to Morris will be free-agent acquisition midfielder Derrick Jones. Jones has been highly touted as being very talented but for whatever reason it has not translated week to week on the pitch, but he is now playing for a coach known to get the best out of his players.

Forwards Cucho Hernandez and Christian Ramirez will start alongside debutant midfielder Marino Hinestroza. Hinestroza headlined the Crew offseason as the big acquisition, but he the U22 player has yet to feature for the club. An ideal start for the young player would be alongside a veteran in Ramirez as well as the engine to the Black & Gold’s attack, Cucho.