UPDATE: Dave Sarachan did indeed chop and change his starting lineup on Tuesday, making nine changes from the XI that lost to Colombia on Thursday. Kellyn Acosta and Tim Weah were the only holdovers.
FC Dallas fullback Reggie Cannon, New York Red Bulls center back Aaron Long and Denmark-based winger Jonathan Amon made their senior international debuts in Sarachan’s default 4-1-4-1 formation, while NYCFC left back Ben Sweat earned his first start after notching his inaugural cap as a substitute vs. Colombia.
Columbus Crew SCHomegrownWil Trapp captained the side from his typical spot in deep midfield, which marks his program-best seventh USMNT appearance of 2018. Teenage prospect Josh Sargent was handed his second U.S. start as the lone striker.
After playing Colombia to a thrilling 4-2 loss on Thursday, the U.S. national team moved on to face Peru on Tuesday (7:30 pm ET | ESPN2, UniMás, UDN) under the promise of personnel change.
Interim head coach Dave Sarachan forecasted more than a few alterations to his starting XI.
"The game against Colombia was, for a friendly, a very high tempo game," Sarachan said at a media conference Monday. "It's taken a few extra days to reassess where everybody's at. I was going into this game on Tuesday with the notion of making changes regardless, so we're still working through it. I'm pretty close to having our first eleven. I'll just leave it at that, that there are a number of changes."
Sarachan was able to reveal one of those changes: Brad Guzan will be starting in goal. After Zack Steffen left the squad due to hamstring tightness, Sarachan announced that Guzan would be starting with Ethan Horvath as the backup.
Guzan will be one of many MLS players to feature Tuesday, not just on the US side. Peru's squad also has a strong MLS presence to it.
"We are very familiar with the players that are placed in Major League Soccer," Sarachan said. "[Raul] Ruidiaz, [Yoshi] Yotun, [Yordy] Reyna, [Andy] Polo – high quality. Very similar in many ways to the team we just played in Colombia, where you have technical speed and quickness."
Having already played Brazil, Mexico and Colombia on their Kickoff Series this fall, the USMNT aren't overlooking Peru and the difficulties they present.
"We're excited to continue in this fall kickoff series playing against a very good opponent in Peru, it'll once again be a great challenge for our group," Sarachan said. "These experiences are critical in the process. It's going to be a great challenge and we're looking forward to it."
