Nashville SC will be seeking to make it four wins on the bounce in the MLS when they go head to head with Austin FC at the GEODIS Park on Saturday.
This will be the first meeting between the sides since May 2021, when the Tennessee outfit claimed a slender 1-0 victory courtesy of Randall Leal's first-half strike.
Match preview
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Nashville SC maintained their fine run of results on Friday morning when they eased to a comfortable 4-1 victory over an out-of-sorts Colorado Rapids side.
German forward Hany Mukhtar turned in a performance of the highest quality in front of the home fans as he hit a hat-trick to hand the Rapids a third defeat in four games.
Gary Smith's men have now won three consecutive games for the first time since September 2021, scoring 11 goals and conceding once since a 2-1 defeat against Minnesota United on August 15.
With 42 points from 29 games, Nashville are currently fifth in the Western Conference standings, level on points with sixth-placed Real Salt Lake, who have one game in hand.
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Austin FC, on the other hand, were sent crashing down to earth last time out as they suffered a 2-1 defeat against Portland Timbers when the sides met at the Q2 Stadium.
The hosts were guilty of a lethargic display in front of goal as Bill Tuilloma and Zac McGraw scored against the run of play to put the Timbers in a commanding lead before Sebastian Driussi pulled one back in the 79th minute.
Prior to that, Josh Wolff's side saw their three-game unbeaten run come to an end courtesy of a 2-1 loss versus Minnesota United on August 21 before claiming a resounding 4-1 win over Los Angeles FC six days later.
Austin FC have picked up 15 wins, six draws and lost seven of their 28 games this season to collect 51 points and sit second in the West, six points off first-played Los Angeles FC.
The Texas outfit head into the weekend unbeaten in six of their last seven away games since the start of June, claiming five wins and one draw while scoring 12 goals and keeping four clean sheets.
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Team News
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Nashville will have to make do with the absence of 24-year-old forward Ake Loba, who came off injured in July's game against Los Angeles FC.
He is joined on the club's injury table by Canadian Teal Bunbury, who is set to sit out his fifth consecutive game after picking up an injury against Toronto FC on August 7.
Mukhtar has been a star performer for Smith's men and the 27-year-old, who is second on the MLS goalscoring chart with 19 goals, should spearhead the attack once again, alongside veteran forward Charles Sapong.
On the other hand, Maximiliano Urruti was forced off injured midway through the game against Portland Timbers last time out and the Argentine forward is a major doubt for Austin.
Should he fail to shake off the injury, 31-year-old striker Danny Hoesen should come into the starting side, teaming up in attack with former Zenit St. Petersburg man Driussi, who has 20 goals to his name this season.
Nashville SC possible starting lineup:
Willis; Romney, Maher, Miller; Washington, Davis, Godoy, Muyl, Leal; Mukhtar, Sapong
Austin FC possible starting lineup:
Stuver; Lima, Cascante, Gabrielsen, Gallagher; Finlay, Ring, Pereira, Fagundez; Driussi, Hoesen
We say: Nashville SC 2-2 Austin FC
Nashville appear to have hit their stride at the attacking end of the pitch, where they have scored 11 goals in their last three games. However, they go up against an Austin side that boasts the league's second-best attacking record. We predict a high-scoring and end-to-end contest at the GEODIS Park with both sides settling for a share of the spoils.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Joshua Ojele
