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.