The Columbus Crew have reached the quarterfinals of the Leagues Cup and will host New York City FC on Saturday night. Both teams have faced tough opposition, Inter Miami for the Crew and Tigres for NYCFC, and look to advance past the toughest quadrant of the Leagues Cup. Columbus holds hosting rights for every match they play in for the tournament as a result of winning the MLS Cup. The home-field advantage has been a mountain for opposing teams to climb, head coach Wilfried Nancy has lost only two matches at home in 40 games, and a third match was lost in penalty kicks to Minnesota in the 2023 Leagues Cup round of 32.

The Crew training staff should be recognized for their work in keeping the team healthy, besides a broken bone in goalkeeper Evan Bush’s arm, the Black & Gold have remained healthy past the midpoint of the season, only sustaining a couple earlier in the season.

Here is how Columbus could lineup:

Goalkeeper Nicholas Hagen has started the last few matches allowing him to develop chemistry and a rhythm with the backline. Goalkeeper Patrick Schule has had his rhythm and chemistry disrupted by a national team call-up, it might not be wise to disrupt Hagen’s rhythm in the middle of the knockout rounds of a tournament. If Nancy wanted to reintegrate Schulte for this tournament the Miami match would have made more sense, expect Hagen to get the start for the rest of the tournament. 

The Black & Gold just announced that defender Malte Amundsen’s contract was extended. This is great news for the Dane as he has been in a rotation battle with defender Yevhen Cheberko. Some speculate Cheberko might be the heir apparent to defender Rudy Camacho, regardless Amundsen is firmly in the future plans of the Crew. Amundsen will start alongside Camacho and defender Steven Moreira. The Columbus backline led by Camacho made multiple big plays to prevent Miami from finding an equalizing goal. 

Wingback Dejuan Jones started the last match as Nancy tried to integrate Jones into his game plan. Unfortunately for Jones, Miami pinned Columbus back with an aggressive press in the first half and the team as a whole struggled to find attacking patterns. Nancy could try to start Jones again, but wingback Max Arfsten has shown to be the current best option at left wingback, especially as Jones still learns Nancy’s system. Wingback Mo Farsi always seems to step up when he has competition at his starting spot, Farsi found forward Diego Rossi to set up the game-winning goal. New signing Andres Herrera could make a substitute appearance in this match at right wingback, but he may also play as a right center back. It will be interesting to see how Nancy utilizes his new player.

Midfielder Alex Matan will start next to midfielder and captain Darlington Nagbe. Matan is not the most physically imposing player, but he brings a lot going forward in technical ability and is more creative. NYCFC will likely start midfielder 37-year-old Maxi Moralez as the attacking midfielder and as small as Matan is, Moralez is smaller. The Crew do not need size or a more physical presence to deal with Moralez, but instead value technical ability and creativity in build-up in this match. 

Forward Christian Ramirez started this game on the bench, then he was a rare halftime substitute for Columbus. Whenever it seems that Ramirez could be losing his grip on his starting role, he puts a ball into the back of the net to let everyone know he should remain on the field. Ramirez smashed home an Arfsten cross to catalyze the Black & Gold for a comeback victory over Miami. Rossi has scored two goals in each of the two Leagues Cup matches, if he continues on this pace, he may win the Golden Boot while not having to play in the group stage. Forward Cucho Hernandez was ecstatic when Rossi equalized, Hernandez jumped up on the advertisement boards to pump up the crowd. Hernandez has shown joy for his teammates and the team to win and move onward, but his own lack of score has been frustrating. Against Miami, the Columbian often overlooked wide passes dribbling into the box and into multiple defenders, losing while also having a lower passing accuracy than normal. A score in this match would take the scoring drought off Hernandez’s mind and allow him to play more free.