Hot in pursuit of the Supporters’ Shield, Nashville SC looks to continue collecting points when they visit St. Louis City SC on Saturday.
Nashville (14-6-5, 47 points) has the third-most points in MLS, but also sits third in the Eastern Conference behind the Philadelphia Union (50 points) and FC Cincinnati (49). The crowded race leaves little margin for error — and Nashville SC is only 2-2-0 in their last four matches.
Coming off a 1-0 loss to San Diego FC on July 25, Nashville goalkeeper Joe Willis said his club is ready to bounce back for the season’s home stretch.
“More than any year in my career, what I’m seeing is a mentality that guys are almost addicted to winning… We’re so close to it that we’re not taking our foot off the pedal,” Willis said. “We’re going to keep pushing knowing how close we are and what we can achieve.”
Sitting second-to-last in the Western Conference, St. Louis City (4-14-6, 18 points) has the more modest goal of trying to find consistent form.
“We know we’ve put together good spells in games… The balance right now is the most important thing for this group,” said St. Louis interim head coach David Critchley. “We want to put an entertaining, attacking style of soccer out there for the fans and to win games, but sometimes you have to have a mindset of ‘how do you respond defensively’ as well.”
St. Louis City’s 24 goals rank 27th of the league’s 30 teams. An offensive breakthrough could be difficult Saturday as Nashville SC is tied for the second-fewest goals conceded this season with 26.
Nashville star forward Sam Surridge alone isn’t far off St. Louis’ scoring pace. Surridge shares the league’s scoring lead with 18 goals in his 25 regular-season matches.
Surridge and Hany Mukhtar (11 goals, eight assists) have combined for 29 of Nashville’s 42 goals. Defender Andy Najar has also emerged as a playmaker with 10 assists.
Joao Klauss leads St. Louis City with seven goals.
St. Louis defender Conrad Wallem (caution accumulation) and midfielder Chris Durkin (red card) are both suspended for Saturday’s match.
–Field Level Media
