• Matchday 17: Nashville SC vs New York City FC
• Date and Time: Saturday, May 31, 4:30 pm ET
• Venue: GEODIS Park, Nashville, TN
• Forecast: Pleasant, clear, warm 79F/26C
• Watch: MLS Season Pass on Apple TV
• Apple Broadcast Team: Neil Sika and Lloyd Sam (English), Jose Bauz and Ivan Kasanzew (Spanish)
• New York City FC Radio: Glenn Crooks and Matty Lawrence (English), Roberto Abramowitz and Ariel Judas (Spanish)
• Officiating Crew: Jon Freemon (referee), Jeremy Kieso and Eduardo Jeff (assistant referees), Sergii Demianchuk (fourth official), Sorin Stoica (VAR), Mike Kampmeinert (assistant VAR)
• Kits: New York City will wear the black and neon 24/7 Kit; Nashville will wear the bright yellow 615 Kit
New York City FC is looking to enter the mid-season break on a high note this afternoon with an away game at Nashville SC. If NYCFC is to get three points they'll need to beat the odds: New York City has just one away win this season, while Nashville has the best home record in Major League Soccer, with six wins, two draws, and one loss.
A hot-and-cold NYCFC fizzled out on Wednesday night, suffering the biggest loss of the season when Gabe Segal's Houston Dynamo won 3-0 in The Bronx. But New York City looked sharp in the two games heading into that match, beating New York Red Bulls then Chicago Fire FC by the combined score of 5-1.
This will be the last look we have at a full-strength NYCFC for some time. Starters Matt Freese, Mitja Ilenič, Alonso Martínez, and Jonny Shore were all called up by their national teams for the international break. Drew Baiera, Máximo Carrizo, and Tomás Romero were also called up.
On the other end of the field, Nashville is enjoying a blistering run of form, and now sits in 3rd Place in the East after getting off to a slow start. Nashville is undefeated in its last five league matches, with three wins and two draws. But only one of those games was a clean sheet, and that was a 0-0 draw with DC United at home: Nashville allowed five goals in those five games.
New York City vs Nashville H2H
| GP | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 6 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 6 | 8 | -2 |
The short historical head-to-head favors Nashville, who went undefeated in the first three meetings between the two clubs. They split the two contests played last year: Nashville won 1-0 at home back on June 22, 2024, then New York City won 3-1 on a sunny afternoon at what was then known as Red Bull Arena on October 6, 2024.
New York City Scouting Report
• Player Availability: Kevin O'Toole (knee), Malachi Jones (leg), and Jacob Arroyave (knee) are all unavailable.
• Andrés Perea is back available for selection after a leg injury forced him to miss the last two games.
• Tayvon Gray is one yellow card away from a suspension after being shown a second-half yellow on Wednesday night.
• Expect to see a full-strength Starting XI from Pascal Jansen. The head coach pulled Justin Haak, Alonso Martínez, Maxi Moralez, and Hannes Wolf on Wednesday after the team fell behind 2-0.
• Can that full-strength team find a way to score in Nashville? NYCFC has just six goals in seven league games on the road this season, held scoreless in four of those games.
Update: The New York City Starting XI
Nashville Scouting Report
• Be sure to read Oppo Research: 5 Things about Nashville SC. Ben Wright of SixOneFive Soccer tells us why head coach BJ Callaghan's system is working, why GEODIS Park now feels like home, and why Walker Zimmerman's rumored return to the Starting XI could be the X-Factor.
Matthew Mangam
