New York City FC take on Nashville SC on Saturday afternoon. Kickoff is scheduled for 4:30 PM ET.
Here are the Keys to the Match, presented by Ford.
Response
Wednesday night’s game against the Houston Dynamo didn’t go New York City FC’s way, but there’s no time to dwell.
The quick turnaround between then and Saturday’s game gives the Boys in Blue a chance to reset and respond with the kind of performance that has defined their recent run.
New York City FC have picked up some impressive wins against high-performing teams this season—beating both FC Cincinnati and the Philadelphia Union. Equally, their two wins against Nashville in MLS have come in their last three meetings, something that should build confidence heading into Saturday.
City have shown tremendous character at points this season. That resilience will be key again on the road.
Goals
Nashville has been difficult to beat at home. Four wins and one draw in their last five outings at GEODIS Park highlight how strong the Boys in Gold are on home turf.
That one draw, however, came in their last outing against D.C. United. City can certainly take some lessons from that game in terms of keeping Nashville out, with the hosts having had 11 different goal scorers in the league so far this season.
Undoubtedly, though, the star attackers for Nashville are Hany Mukhtar and Sam Surridge. City will need to be in top form to deny the pair, who each have 12 goal involvements in 2025.
Statement
New York City FC have had some tricky moments on the road in 2025. Despite that, only two defeats in their last five road games have seen them collect five points.
A win in Toronto was undoubtedly the high point, and that 1-0 success is exactly the kind of result the team would take this Saturday. Last season, City suffered a narrow defeat in Tennessee before beating Nashville 3-1 at home.
It was that latter game that saw Alonso Martínez put City 3-0 up in the 21st minute. A repeat of that on Saturday would be wonderful, but City’s primary focus must be on victory—and nothing more than that.
