The Inter Miami forward pulled out of the squad due to an injury in his right hamstring, but that did not stop Argentina from beating El Salvador 3-0 on Friday.
Lautaro Martinez and Angel Di Maria started in attack for La Albiceleste, but it was three Premier League stars who got the goals for Argentina.
Cristian Romero, Giovani Lo Celso and Enzo Fernandez struck for Lionel Scaloni's side, who cruised to a straightforward win in Philadelphia.
After his goal on Friday, Scaloni may reward Lo Celso with another start here, and that would be a 50th cap for the Tottenham Hotspur man, despite him not featuring regularly at club level.
A lack of game time meant Juan Musso was not selected by Scaloni though, while Marcos Acuna and Lucas Martinez Quarta's recent injuries also saw them miss out.
Gonzalo Montiel is another who has missed this international window with injury, while Lucas Ocampos was left out entirely by the Argentina manager.
After initially being named in the squad, Paulo Dybala, Exequiel Palacios and Marcos Senesi all pulled out due to injury, and the withdrawal of the latter meant Scaloni experimented against El Salvador.
An ultra-attacking lineup saw Nicolas Tagliafico start at centre-back, while Fiorentina attacker Nicolas Gonzalez played at left-back in a rather lob-sided starting XI.
Nehuen Perez got just a second cap in that win, but Nahuel Molina is likely to come in at right-back, while Premier League duo Alexis Mac Allister and Julian Alvarez are also set to start after being substitutes against El Salvador.
Argentina possible starting lineup:
E Martinez; Molina, Romero, Otamendi, Tagliafico; De Paul, Fernandez, Mac Allister; Alvarez, L Martinez, Gonzalez
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