The Columbus Crew only just passed the New York City FC and are rewarded with a Leagues Cup Semifinal appearance against the Philadelphia Union. The Crew will host either the final or third place game which looks to be contested Sunday. After a first round bye the Crew will play five straight home games in Leagues Cup. Philadelphia will be without the Leagues Cup top scorer forward Tai Baribo and it seems defensive midfielder Jose Martinez will miss the game as he is finalizing a transfer to the Brazilian side Corinthians. 

Columbus do not have much in terms of absences, with goalkeeper Evan Bush being the only absence as he works back from a broken bone in his arm. 

Here is how the Black & Gold may lineup:

It seems that goalkeeper Patrick Schulte will take over for the rest of the Crew Leagues Cup run. Columbus need their starting keeper to regain confidence and playing time after a disappointing Olympics run.

Head coach Wilfried Nancy opted to not rotate players in earlier parts of the season when the team were playing many games in a congested schedule, and he will continue that trend as defenders Rudy Camacho and Steven Moreira continue to start every Leagues Cup match. Nancy has given both defenders Malte Amundsen and Yevhen Cheberko playing time in this tournament, but will opt to go with Amundsen in this match.

It is hard to see Nancy changing the starting wingback pair of wingback Max Arfsten and Mo Farsi this far into a knockout tournament. Both wingbacks have provided crucial assists and understand Nancy’s system better than new arrivals, wingbacks Andres Herrera and Dejuan Jones. Wingback Yaw Yeboah has started one match out of 11 since the Black & Gold lost to Pachuca and logged only 154 minutes across those 11 matches. Yeboah has been on the game day roster but has not made an appearance in the last four matches. 

Captain and midfielder Darlington Nagbe has logged every minute he could in this Leagues Cup run, and will continue to do so in this match. Midfielder Sean Zawadzki has filled in admirably since the departure of Aidan Morris. Zawadzki had more touches than Nagbe against NYCFC, more passes into the final third, more defensive actions, and won six of his seven duels.

Will Nancy give any of the forwards a rest looking forward to the final? It seems unlikely, as the attacking trio of forwards Cucho Hernandez, Christian Ramirez, and Diego Rossi will likely start again. Nancy could tinker to give one of the trio rest while starting forward Jacen Russell-Rowe. 

With a trophy match on Sunday, Nancy has to balance getting to the final and keeping his squad fresh enough to compete at their highest level to win the Leagues Cup. Fortunately Columbus has been at home and will remain at home for this match and the next, which aids in recovery.