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Major League Soccer
Feb 25, 2023 at 9.30pm UK
First Tennessee Park
NY

Nashville
2 - 0
NY City

Zimmerman (34'), Shaffelburg (80')
Shaffelburg (58')
FT(HT: 1-0)

Cufre (28'), Magno (62'), Andrade (75'), Chanot (90+3')

Preview: Nashville SC vs. New York City FC - prediction, team news, lineups

:Headline: Preview: Nashville SC vs. New York City FC - prediction, team news, lineups:
Sports Mole previews Saturday's Major League Soccer clash between Nashville SC and New York City FC, including predictions, team news and possible lineups.
Sports Mole

The 2023 MLS regular season begins in the Music City on Saturday as Nashville SC host New York City FC in a matinee affair at GEODIS Park.

Last season, the Boys in Gold were eliminated in the opening round of the playoffs, losing 1-0 to the Los Angeles Galaxy, while the MLS Cup reign of NYCFC ended when they were beaten 3-1 by the Philadelphia Union in the Eastern Conference Final.


Match preview

After a temporary stay out west, Nashville are back in the Eastern Conference this season, taking on a side who have never beaten them in two previous meetings.

When Nashville last featured in the East in 2021, it was a highly successful campaign for Gary Smith's men, finishing third in the conference with 54 points, their highest-ever total in a regular season campaign.

While they had a dependable and prolific number nine in the attacking third last year, this team struggled along the backline, conceding 41 goals, more than in any other regular season since entering the league in 2020.

In 2022, they were missing the presence of a solid winger to provide some width and catch the opposition in transition, scoring a goal or fewer in their final four regular season encounters.

Last year, they had a challenging start to the campaign, having to play their opening eight matches away from home before GEODIS Park officially opened, and it seemed like all of that travelling took a toll on them as the season wore on.

Nashville have found the back of the net in all but one of their regular season affairs at GEODIS Park, earning points in three of four home fixtures against Eastern Conference sides last year.

The two-time Eastern Conference finalists from the Bronx begin what will feel like a new era, with plenty of veterans leaving during the transfer window for opportunities with other clubs in MLS or abroad.

It will be up to Nick Cushing to bring the newcomers together and integrate them into his possession-based approach, something that will be a tall task seeing as they lost five players who were regularly in the starting 11 last season, including the MLS Cup MVP from 2021.

They may have failed to retain their MLS Cup title last season, but they still walked away with some silverware, capturing the Campeones Cup thanks to a 2-0 victory over Mexican side Atlas.

Despite losing the 2021 Golden Boot winner Valentin Castellanos on loan to Girona midway through last season, the Pigeons still managed to score 57 goals, which was one more than they had with the Argentine the previous year when they went on to win the MLS Cup.

That should be an encouraging sign to Cushing and this group, given how much turnover they suffered over the off-season as they aim to make the playoffs for an eighth successive campaign.

If you include their 3-1 victory at CF Montreal in the 2022 Eastern Conference semi-finals, NYCFC have won two of their last three away games not counting preseason, though three of their six regular season road triumphs a year ago came against non-playoff teams.

Nashville SC friendlies form:
  • L
  • D
  • L
  • W

New York City FC friendlies form:
  • L
  • D
  • D
  • W
  • D
  • L



Team News

Ahead of the 2023 campaign, Nashville added an extra attacking option, acquiring New York-born striker Fafa Picault from the Houston Dynamo with the hope that he can take some of the pressure off 2022 Golden Boot winner Hany Mukhtar, who scored 23 times last season, while the Boys in Gold also brought defender Nick DePuy over from the Los Angeles Galaxy.

Long-time Nashville defender Dave Romney was traded to the New England Revolution, Ake Loba was loaned out to Mexican side Mazatlan, and the club exercised a purchase option on Jacob Shaffelburg, who initially came to them on loan from Toronto in 2022.

Sean Davis was a pivotal part of the Nashville midfield last season with the fourth-most interception in MLS (58), Joe Willis had nine clean sheets in goal, while Walker Zimmerman featured in every World Cup match for the US in Qatar, starting at centre-back on three occasions.

NYCFC will look very different from what we are used to seeing, as they added Matt Freese from the Philadelphia Union to replace veteran goalkeeper and 2021 MLS Cup MVP Sean Johnson, who signed with Toronto, while Mitja Ilenic will be expected to fill the void left by Anton Tinnerholm, who returned to his native Sweden.

In addition to losing Johnson, New York also saw Alexander Callens join Girona in La Liga, Heber became a member of the Seattle Sounders, Maxi Moralez is now at Racing Club in Argentina and the loan move of Santiago Rodriguez came to an end, but the club is reportedly negotiating a long-term contract for him to return to the Bronx with rumours that he does not want to play for his current club Montevideo City Torque.

Talles Magno had eight goals in the 2022 regular season, which was third behind Heber and Castellanos, while Rodriguez led them with 13 assists, the fourth most in MLS last year.

Nashville SC possible starting lineup:
Willis; Moore, Zimmerman, Maher, Lovitz; Leal, McCarty, Davis; Picault, Mukhtar, Sapong

New York City FC possible starting lineup:
Freese; Ilenic, Chanot, Martins, Amundsen; Parks, Haak; Pereira, Morales, Pellegrini; Magno


We say: Nashville SC 2-0 New York City FC

With so many new faces in the NYCFC lineup, we suspect it will take some time for them to gel together as a unit, particularly on the backline.

Containing the Nashville attack might be a little more challenging this weekend, seeing as Picault is a capable secondary scorer who can compliment Mukhtar, so we expect that quality will overpower the newcomers at New York City.

How to watch

You can watch Nashville SC vs. New York City FC and every MLS match this season live on Apple TV. Click here for more details on how to subscribe.

For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
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Read more about Gary Smith Nick Cushing Fafa Picault Hany Mukhtar Nick DePuy Dave Romney Ake Loba Jacob Shaffelburg Sean Davis Joe Willis Walker Zimmerman Matt Freese Sean Johnson Mitja Ilenic Anton Tinnerholm Alexander Callens Heber Maxi Moralez Santiago Rodriguez Talles Magno Valentin Castellanos Football
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Premier League Table

Eastern Conference

TeamPWDLFAGDPTS
1Inter MiamiInter Miami34228479493074
2Columbus Crew34199672403266
3FC CincinnatiCincinnati341851158481059
4Orlando City34157125950952
5Charlotte FCCharlotte FC34149114637951
6New York City FCNY City34148125449550
7New York Red BullsNY Red Bulls34111495550547
8CF MontrealMontreal341110134864-1643
9Atlanta UnitedAtlanta341010144649-340
10DC United341010145270-1840
11Philadelphia UnionPhiladelphia34910156255737
12Toronto34114194061-2137
13Nashville SCNashville3499163854-1636
14New England RevolutionNew England3494213774-3731
15Chicago Fire3479184062-2230

Western Conference

TeamPWDLFAGDPTS
1Los Angeles FCLos Angeles34197863432064
2Los Angeles GalaxyLA Galaxy34197869501964
3Real Salt LakeSalt Lake341611765481759
4Seattle SoundersSeattle34169951351657
5Houston DynamoHouston34159104739854
6Minnesota UnitedMinnesota Utd34157125849952
7Colorado RapidsColorado34155146160150
8Portland TimbersPortland341211116556947
9Vancouver WhitecapsVancouver34138135249347
10Austin FCAustin34119143948-942
11Dallas34118155456-241
12St Louis City34813135063-1337
13Sporting Kansas CityKansas3487195166-1531
14San Jose EarthquakesEarthquakes3463254178-3721
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