Nashville SC hosts Charlotte FC on Saturday as the Eastern Conference rivals separated by just two points in the table will meet for the second time this season.
Both clubs enjoyed success outside of league play during the week by advancing in the U.S. Open Cup with victories over lower-tier opponents.
Charlotte posted a wild 4-1 win at North Carolina FC in a match that saw all five goals come after a scoreless 90 minutes. Nashville advanced to the Round of 16 with a 1-0 win at home over Chattanooga Red Wolves SC.
Nashville (5-4-2, 17 points) sits in sixth place in the MLS Eastern Conference standings, a place below Charlotte, while both clubs are even on goal differential at plus-six.
In the first meeting on April 5, Hany Mukhtar’s goal in the 32nd minute looked to be enough to give the visitors the rare road win in Charlotte, but it all fell apart late as Nashville conceded two goals in the final five minutes en route to the 2-1 loss.
“I don’t think we are going to use it as motivation, but it’s certainly not lost on us,” Nashville coach B.J. Callaghan said Tuesday, referring to that first meeting.
“We thought we played pretty well. We didn’t finish the game great. They’re an Eastern Conference opponent. We know where they are in the table, so I know that this group is going to be up for that game.”
Nashville will try to even the season series with Charlotte by continuing to dominate at home. Nashville is 4-1-1 at home this season and coming off a 7-2 victory over Chicago on April 26. Sam Surridge had four goals in the win and leads the club with six on the season.
Charlotte (6-4-1, 19 points) enters Saturday looking to regain their form in the league after two straight losses with early MVP candidate Pep Biel (three goals, six assists) still sidelined with a hamstring injury that he suffered on April 19 in a 3-0 win over San Diego FC.
Still, captain Ashley Westwood knows his side can play much better after allowing a season-high in goals during a 4-2 loss at Columbus on May 3.
“It was sloppy goals,” Westwood said on Thursday when asked about Charlotte’s leaky defense.
“Obviously one’s a penalty but we were chasing the game and that’s what happens when you chase the game they can catch you on the break which is unlike us. Again we had chances to score a few goals as well which unfortunately we didn’t do.”
One recent bright spot for Charlotte, which is 1-3-1 on the road this season, is that Wilfried Zaha scored in their last league match. The Ivory Coast international, who will be counted on more with Biel sidelined, has three goals in nine matches.
–Field Level Media
