In terms of postseason positioning, nothing is at stake for Nashville SC going into the regular-season finale.
But in terms of historical posterity, Nashville can shatter MLS’ single-season points record — a mark it has tied — when it visits FC Cincinnati on Saturday.
Nashville SC (22-3-8, 74 points) merely needs a draw to break the record they share with 2024 Inter Miami.
“These guys come to work each and every day with a single focus, which is to win as many games as we can and do it in a really collective and selfless way,” said Nashville coach B.J. Callaghan. “It’s a big honor for these guys to be in that discussion (as the greatest MLS team), but I know they’re going to be hungry for more.”
It has already been two weeks since Nashville clinched the Supporters’ Shield, which goes to the MLS team with the best record.
“We can find different ways to win games,” Callaghan said. “Even when we’re not at our best for certain periods, we can dig deep.”
“We want to be the standard of this league,” said Nashville midfielder Hany Mukhtar. “This is something very unique. You don’t have often the chance to become the standard of the whole league. This group has shown that we can win away, and that is our mentality in Cincinnati.”
Cincinnati (12-11-10, 46 points) holds seventh place in the Eastern Conference entering play Saturday, but there’s potential to climb or drop a spot.
A Cincinnati victory and a Philadelphia loss or draw would move Cincinnati to sixth place. If Cincinnati loses and eighth-place Columbus wins, then Cincinnati falls into eighth place and the wild-card round against Orlando.
Cincinnati, which owns a 3-0-1 record in its last four matches, had a couple of days to recover for its home finale.
“I think we’ve managed it in a way where now it just becomes a focus of Nashville in the next couple days and our preparation,” Cincinnati coach Pat Noonan said.
This matchup features two of the four highest-scoring teams in MLS. Nashville ranks third with 69 goals in 33 matches while Cincinnati has 67 goals.
Evander leads Cincinnati, but he adhered to minutes limits recently as he dealt with an illness that resulted in loss of training time. With the full week between matches, he should be at full speed.
“We want to win,” Evander said. “We’re going to play at home against the champions of the Supporters’ Shield. But we want to show we are a strong team for the playoffs.”
Nashville defeated Cincinnati 4-0 with four players scoring when the teams met Aug. 29 in Nashville.
–Field Level Media
