Seeking to end a run of four league games without a victory, FC Cincinnati make the journey to the Nissan Stadium on Sunday for their clash against Nashville SC.
Meanwhile, Nashville are aiming to preserve their unbeaten home record which has seen them amass more points on home turf than any other side in the division.
Match preview
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Fresh off the back of an emphatic 5-1 victory over Chicago Fire, Nashville SC were held to a goalless draw by Columbus Crew at the MAPFRE Stadium on Thursday.
Gary Smith's men had their backs against the wall for the majority of the contest, but they held firm to secure a point, thanks in no small part to an inspired display from Joe Willis.
The Tennessee-based club are third in the Eastern Conference at the moment, level on points with Philadelphia in second and seven behind New England Revolution with a game in hand.
Sunday's hosts now prepare to take on the visitors for what will the third meeting between the sides since the former's induction into the MLS in 2020.
Nashville are yet to taste defeat in any of the two previous encounters, the most recent of which was a 2-2 stalemate back in April.
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Following a disappointing defeat to CF Montreal a week ago, FC Cincinnati were guilty once again of throwing away a lead in a 1-1 draw versus Atlanta United.
Luciano Acosta put Jaap Stam's men ahead just past the hour mark only for Ronald Hernandez to restore parity nine minutes later.
It continues to be a largely underwhelming campaign for the Orange and Blue, who have picked up just three wins in their 13 games to date, and as a result currently sit seven points away from the last playoff spot.
A major Achilles' heel for Sunday's visitors has been maintaining their discipline on the field of play, which has seen them receive the most yellow cards so far.
Their defensive record has also not been anything to write home about, with only Toronto FC letting in more than Cincinnati's tally of 26 at an average of two per game.
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Team News
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Walker Zimmerman and Alistair Johnson are unavailable for the home team, as they are currently on duty with the United States and Canada respectively at the ongoing Gold Cup.
Similarly, Allan Cruz and Ronald Matarrita are in action for Costa Rica in the aforementioned competition, ruling them out for the away side.
Dominique Badji has missed half of his side's 14 games so far due to a knee injury, while Anibal Godoy is yet to feature since he was subbed off with a muscle problem in Nashville's victory over Philadelphia Union on July 4.
Zico Bailey and Calvin Harris continue to battle with knee and hip injuries respectively and are not expected to play any part in Sunday's contest.
FC Cincinnati will also be without the services of Dutch defender Maikel van der Werff who is down with a hernia problem.
Nashville SC possible starting lineup:
Willis; Romney, McCarty, Anibaba; Washington, LaGrassa, Anunga, Muyl, Miller; Mukhtar, Sapong
FC Cincinnati possible starting lineup:
Vermeer; Gyau, Cameron, Vallecilla, Castillo; Acosta, Medunjanin, Stanko; Atanga, Barreal, Brenner
We say: Nashville SC 2-0 FC Cincinnati
Nashville have been a major force to reckon with this season, especially in home matches. While the away side have been relatively decent on their travels, we are tipping the hosts to claim a relatively comfortable win at the sound of the final whistle.
Top tip
Data Analysis
Our analysis of all available data, including recent performances and player stats up until an hour before kickoff, suggested the most likely outcome of this match was a Nashville SC win with a probability of 65.67%. A draw had a probability of 19.7% and a win for FC Cincinnati had a probability of 14.58%.
The most likely scoreline for a Nashville SC win was 2-0 with a probability of 11.24%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 1-0 (10.69%) and 2-1 (9.85%). The likeliest drawn scoreline was 1-1 (9.36%), while for a FC Cincinnati win it was 0-1 (4.45%). The actual scoreline of 3-0 was predicted with a 7.9% likelihood. Our data analysis correctly predicted that Nashville SC would win this match.
