The New England Revolution will look to maintain their first-place standing in the Eastern Conference of Major League Soccer when they travel to the music city to face Nashville SC on Saturday.
Both teams are undefeated through their first three games, with the Revs winning their last two, while Nashville have drawn their opening three matches so far.
Match preview
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Nashville have failed to win their last six regular-season games at Nissan Stadium, including their first three in 2021.
They struggled out of the gate in their opening two fixtures, coming back twice from two goals down to draw with Cincinnati and Montreal.
Last weekend Nashville looked a lot more like the stingy defensive team we saw in 2020 as they held Inter Miami to just two shots on goal, with Joe Willis picking up his first clean sheet of this campaign.
Craig Smith and his team will be confident heading into this weekend, given how well they played against the Revolution in their inaugural season.
The last time they faced them, they held the Revs to only two shots on target despite having only 37% of the possession, en route to a 1-1 draw.
After an improbable run to the Eastern Conference Finals in 2020, New England have picked up right where they left off this season.
The Revs have improved defensively since their opening fixture, giving up just one shot on target against DC United while holding a dangerous Atlanta side to just four shots on goal in a 2-1 win last Saturday.
A win or draw this weekend would mark their best start to an MLS campaign since 2009, when they captured eight points from their opening four fixtures.
If they can earn three points, it would be the first time they have won three consecutive regular-season games since 2016.
The Revolution had a demanding pre-season, playing the LA Galaxy twice and Los Angeles FC once in a week.
It seems those matches against solid opponents have paid off in the early stages of this season.
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Team News
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Nashville striker Daniel Rios is out with a right foot injury, while Abu Danladi has a left hamstring problem, and Brian Anunga will miss out with a left quad and knee injury.
Jhonder Cadiz has already equalled his goal output from 2020, leading the team with two in his opening three games, while midfielder Randall Leal is halfway towards matching his assists total from a season ago when he led Nashville with four.
Colin Verfurth has a lower-body injury for New England and could miss his fourth consecutive regular-season game, while Luis Caicedo has a leg injury, and is questionable.
Former Aston Villa midfielder Carles Gil is off to a good start this season with a goal and two assists, while their leading goalscorer in 2020, Teal Bunbury, is still in search of his first goal of this campaign having started on the bench in the first three matches.
Nashville SC possible starting lineup:
Willis; Johnston, Zimmerman, Romney, Lovitz; McCarty, Godoy; Bwana, Mukhtar, Leal; Cadiz
New England Revolution possible starting lineup:
Turner; Bye, Farrell, Kessler, Jones; Kaptoum, Polster; Traustason, Gil; Buksa, Bunbury
We say: Nashville SC 1-1 New England Revolution
In 2020 these teams had identical records of 8-8-7 in the regular season, drawing with each other twice. Earning single points is something both sides do well as they both had eight draws last year, which tied them with Chicago for second and was just one behind the Houston Dynamo.
Top tip
Joel Lefevre
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 43.04%. A win for New England Revolution had a probability of 30.79% and a draw had a probability of 26.2%.
The most likely scoreline for a Nashville SC win was 1-0 with a probability of 10.68%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 2-1 (8.88%) and 2-0 (7.62%). The likeliest New England Revolution win was 0-1 (8.73%), while for a drawn scoreline it was 1-1 (12.44%). The actual scoreline of 2-0 was predicted with a 7.6% likelihood. Our data analysis correctly predicted that Nashville SC would win this match.
