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FC Cincinnati faces another MLS Cup playoff contender, Nashville SC

Posted on by Vanessa
FC Cincinnati faces another MLS Cup playoff contender, Nashville SC

To put it simply, FC Cincinnati owes Nashville SC.

In late May, as FC Cincinnati was battling through MLS with a club-record seven straight wins, Nashville came to TQL Stadium and beat FCC in stunning fashion.

Nashville SC had three wins and was playing under an interim coach after longtime manager Gary Smith was fired, but Nashville pulled out a 2-0 victory in front of a sold-out crowd of 25,513 on May 30, marking one of the low points in the era of FCC head coach Pat Noonan.

FC Cincinnati will not take a record-setting streak into Saturday's match between these clubs at GEODIS Park in Nashville. Perhaps more importantly, FC Cincinnati will look to continue building momentum ahead of its 2024 playoff run against Nashville SC, when the teams face off at 8:30 p.m. ET.

FC Cincinnati is still relatively healthy after a midweek win at Allianz Field against Minnesota United FC. Only striker Nicholas Gioacchini was unavailable for Wednesday's game due to a facial injury sustained in a previous game.

On Wednesday, Yuya Kubo and Luca Orellano scored beautiful goals in the first half, and FCC built a defensive defense in the closing stages that did not collapse to secure the narrow away win.

The win was historic, giving Cincinnati an away record of 10-3-1, making them one of eight clubs in all of MLS history to reach 10 wins. In the modern era of the league, only CF Montreal in 2022 (11 wins) and New England Revolution in 2021 (10) had previously achieved 10 away wins.

More significant than the club's away record is that FCC is still fending off a strong Columbus Crew challenge in the battle for second place in the Eastern Conference. FC Cincinnati is two points ahead of Columbus in the standings, having played one game less than FCC.

FC Cincinnati only has five games left until the 2024 MLS Cup playoffs.

The latest from Nashville, SC

Look at the playoff situation in the MLS Western Conference. What do you notice?

One thing you'll observe at the bottom of the standings is the steep drop-off from the true contenders to the teams that stumble across the finish line in 2024. Several clubs are dropping out of the 2024 regular season without much resistance. In fact, the San Jose Earthquakes have already been eliminated from the playoff race – the first club to suffer that fate yet.

Now look at the Eastern Conference playoff situation. You see that Inter Miami CF is leading the East and FC Cincinnati and Columbus Crew are battling for second place. But what else do you see?

Hopefully you've noticed the chaos in the bottom half of the East standings. The ninth-seeded Philadelphia Union (8-12-9, 33 points) is just five points ahead of the last-place New England Revolution (8-16-4, 28 points).

Every team in the Eastern Conference has some degree of playoff potential, and they're all likely to be there for at least a few more weeks. In the midst of this chaotic battle is the same Nashville team that beat FC Cincinnati on May 30.

Under new manager BJ Callaghan, the former assistant coach of the U.S. men's national team and one-time interim coach who led the USMNT through the 2023 CONCACAF Gold Cup, Nashville (8-13-8, 32 points) now has a good chance of a postseason spot.

Callaghan also overlapped with Union's large circle of former staff and executives at FC Cincinnati, which led to lasting friendships, according to FC Cincinnati head coach Pat Noonan.

“We've been in touch throughout the year. Myself, BJ, Jim (Curtin), Chris (Albright), we've all worked together and built good working relationships,” Noonan said during a press conference on Friday. “So it's nice to see the progress and development of BJ. He's worked really hard in his time in Philly. I've witnessed that firsthand and been a club member and put in the work to help move Jim and the team forward. And from the outside and from the context of US Soccer, you hear how influential he was during his time there and working with Gregg (Berhalter). So now he's the manager in Nashville and I think there were certainly challenging times in the first couple of weeks taking over a new project and a new team. But you've seen the improvement the last couple of games and I'm happy for BJ for this opportunity because I think he deserves it.”

Sure, Nashville lost eight games in a row from June 30 to August 31. That's not exactly the hallmark of a team that's shown signs of making the playoffs this year. But just by winning the last two games, Nashville is in the playoff race.

If that makes you wonder about the merits of MLS's current 18-team postseason format, you're not alone. Any team can turn it up and make a run in the playoffs. And if you believe the regular season should be about earning the right to make that run, you can probably make a convincing argument that Nashville hasn't earned that right.

But here they are. Nashville won 2-0 at Atlanta United last Saturday and beat Chicago Fire 1-0 on Wednesday.

“They've had two good results and now I think they're one point away from a playoff spot. That's how quickly it changes, (and) they seem to be a confident group,” Noonan said. “It doesn't take much, and I know the results before the Atlanta and Chicago games weren't that good, but after two wins you see some of the structure of those two games and why they were successful. But it's going to be a very difficult game and you know, our guys have just become comfortable with what those changes look like and what to expect after a quick turnaround. So I'm looking forward to it.”

Designated Player Sam Surridge scored the game-winning goal against Chicago, while 2022 MLS MVP Hany Mukhtar and Alex Muyl scored against Atlanta. So we have Nashville's top players doing damage at a crucial moment of the 2024 season.

That formula for a Nashville team that finished second in the 2023 Leagues Cup could pose a real challenge for FC Cincinnati on Saturday. Nashville still has the skill and firepower to impress even a serious contender, as it did at TQL Stadium this spring.

Surridge is Nashville's leading scorer with nine goals this season. Mukhtar has six goals and a team-high eight assists, making him the club's leading provider overall.

Nashville's problem is that Surridge and Mukhtar together account for more than 50% of the club's goals in 2024. With 29 goals, Nashville ranks dead last in MLS.

In defense, however (44 goals conceded), the team is in the middle of the pack: it ranks 9th in the Eastern Conference and 13th in the entire MLS.

“Well, the structure, you know, in the last two games without the ball. A bit of a diamond shape with the midfield and how they use Mukhtar to press deeper and higher, where it looks like maybe a 4-3-3 formation at times,” Noonan said. “Very organised. They've certainly been difficult to break through, haven't conceded a goal in the last two games. So, defensively, I've noticed some of those things.

“We saw a few adjustments on the ball. I won't necessarily go into detail about that, but there were a few ways they were able to gain advantages and get free, whether it was Muyl on the left, (Shaq) Moore on the right or, more importantly in terms of our preparation, the front three, Mukhtar and (Teal) Bunbury and Surridge. They were really dynamic and found ways to attack quickly, attack the box, cross, they were very dangerous. So those are some of the things we focused on.”

FC Cincinnati vs Nashville SC

Start: 8:30 p.m. ET | GEODIS Park, Nashville

Transmitted: Apple TV MLS Season Pass

All series: Nashville SC leads the series against FC Cincinnati in MLS with a 3-2-3 record. Including the 2018 USL regular season and playoffs, the clubs have played three other ties this season (Nashville leads 3-2-6 overall).

Prediction from Cincinnati.com: FC Cincinnati 2, Nashville SC 1

FC Cincinnati

Recording (MLS): 17-8-2, 57 points; Second place in the Eastern Conference

Goals for: 50 (3rd in the East; 9th in the MLS)

Goals against: 37 (3rd in the East, 6th in the MLS)

Head Coach: Pat Noonan, third season as manager of Cincinnati

Expected starting eleven: Roman Celentano (TW), Miles Robinson, Ian Murphy, Chidozie Awaziem, DeAndre Yedlin, Yamil Asad, Obinna Nwobodo, Pavel Bucha, Luciano Acosta, Luca Orellano, Kevin Kelsy.

Nashville, TN

Recording (MLS): 8-13-8, 32 points; 12th place in the Eastern Conference

Goals for: 29 (No. 15 in the East; No. 29 in MLS)

Goals against: 44 (No. 9 in the East; No. 13 in the MLS)

Head Coach: BJ Callaghan, first season as manager of Nashville (hiring announced on July 3)

Expected starting eleven: Joe Willis (TW), Shaquell Moore, Walker Zimmerman, Jack Maher, Daniel Lovitz, Brian Anunga, Anibal Godoy, Alex Muyl, Hany Mukhtar, Teal Bunbury, Sam Surridge.

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