Nashville SC will begin a two-game homestand on Saturday when they take on New York City FC at GEODIS Park in the 19th MLS contest for both sides this season.
A 2-1 come-from-behind victory over Toronto put the Boys in Gold three points above the Eastern Conference playoff line, while the Pigeons maintained their fourth-place standing despite a 2-0 loss versus the Los Angeles Galaxy.
Match preview
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We saw another gritty effort from Nashville in midweek as they won their first domestic contest of 2024 when conceding the opening goal.
Since Rumba Munthali became the interim manager last month, this side have points in five of their previous six domestic encounters, collecting three clean sheets over that stretch.
The 45-year-old Zambian is still seeking his first home triumph of the 2024 domestic campaign, with his side losing their previous match played at GEODIS Park against the New England Revolution (2-1).
All five of their MLS victories this season have occurred when this team netted multiple times, and Nashville are unbeaten in 2024 when doing so.
After 18 domestic encounters this year, they have only scored 22 goals, the second-fewest among teams currently in a playoff position in the Eastern Conference.
Nashville boast a 100% home record in the regular season versus New York City, winning their only meeting against them at GEODIS Park last year (2-0).
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Weeks of smooth sailing for the Boys in Blue, and suddenly, this team are in a minor slump, losing their second successive league contest on Wednesday.
Their defeat to the Galaxy was only the second time that this team had failed to find the back of the net in this competition since the middle of March.
Another defeat this weekend would equal their longest losing run in MLS this year, while they have not been held off the scoresheet in consecutive domestic encounters since their first two games of the regular season.
One area that Nick Cushing's men have improved on in 2024 is their form away from home, claiming points in four successive MLS encounters as the visitors before the loss in LA.
Should they win this upcoming fixture, it would be their fourth away from home in 2014, setting a new single-season club record.
NYCFC have struggled to break through the Nashville backline in the past, scoring a goal or fewer in each of their meetings against them while netting only once in two prior visits to the Music City.
Team News
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Nashville were missing Julian Gaines in their midweek victory over Toronto because of a sore ankle, Randall Leal sat out with a hip problem, Anibal Godoy has a thigh injury and Lukas MacNaughton continues to recover from ankle surgery.
Shaq Moore and Jacob Shaffelburg will all be unavailable for this match as they are representing the USA and Canada at the Copa America.
Sam Surridge put home his team-leading sixth and seventh goals of the MLS campaign on Wednesday, while Hany Mukhtar collected his seventh assist this season and has a chance to become the sixth player in league history to reach 100 goal contributions over a four-year span with a goal or assist this weekend.
The Pigeons played without Rio Hope-Gund on Wednesday as he is still recovering from a leg injury, while Mitja Ilenic is eligible to return from his red card suspension and Birk Risa was taken off early in their previous encounter with food poisoning and his status is uncertain for Saturday.
Kevin O'Toole and Thiago Martins were back in the lineup after missing their match last weekend through injury, while Monsef Bakrar started for the first time since their 1-0 victory over the New England Revolution last month.
Leading goalscorer Santiago Rodriguez saw his two-match scoring run end on Wednesday and Maxi Moralez continues to seek his first start of the season, coming on as a substitute in their previous three fixtures.
Nashville SC possible starting lineup:
Willis; Bauer, Zimmerman, Maher, Lovitz; Sejdic, Yearwood; Boyd, Mukhtar, Surridge; Bunbury
New York City FC possible starting lineup:
Freese; Gray, Martins, Tanasijevic, Ilenic; Parks, Sands; Wolf, Rodriguez, Perea; Mijatovic
We say: Nashville SC 1-2 New York City FC
Having two terrific chances creators in Moralez and Rodriguez should enable the Boys in Blue to unlock this formidable Nashville backline and give NYCFC a first-ever away victory against them.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Joel Lefevre
