New York Red Bulls vs Nashville SC prediction, preview, team news and more | MLS 2021
The MLS returns with a fresh set of fixtures as the New York Red Bulls welcome Nashville SC to the Red Bull Arena on Saturday.
The hosts will look to build on their 2-1 win over Orlando City last time out, while the visitors will aim to maintain their unbeaten start to the new campaign.
The New York Red Bulls picked up their third win of the season last time out as they claimed a 2-1 win over Orlando City on home turf.
Gerhard Struber's men raced to a two-goal lead through Caden Clark and Cristian Casseres before the visitors halved the deficit thanks to an 84th-minute strike from Silvester van der Water.
Prior to that, the New York Red Bulls suffered successive league defeats, losing 1-0 to the Philadelphia Union before falling to a 3-1 defeat at the hands of the New England Revolution.
With nine points from seven games, the hosts occupy seventh place in the Eastern Conference table, two points and two places behind Saturday’s visitors.
Nashville, meanwhile, has enjoyed a decent start to the new campaign. They have gone unbeaten in their seven games so far, picking up two wins and five draws.
Gary Smith's men picked up a hard-fought point away to Atlanta United last time out as they came from two goals down for the third time this season.
German midfielder Hany Mukhtar put on a show for Nashville in their last match against Atlanta United. He scored two late goals to cancel the hosts' two-goal lead and force a share of the spoils.
Nashville will aim to surge up the Eastern Conference table as they are tied on 11 points with the three teams above them.
New York Red Bulls vs Nashville SC Head-To-Head
This is the first-ever meeting between the two Eastern Conference sides and they will aim to begin their rivalry with a win .
New York Red Bulls Form Guide (all competitions): W-L-L-W-W
Nashville Form Guide SC (all competitions): D-W-D-W-D
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New York Red Bulls vs Nashville SC Team News
New York Red Bulls
The hosts have a relatively long injury list as Andrew Gutman, Aaron Long, Florian Valot and Youba Diarra have all been sidelined with injuries. Cristian Casseres is away on Copa America duty with the Venezuelan national team.
Injured: Andrew Gutman, Aaron Long, Florian Valot, Youba Diarra
Suspended: None
Unavailable: Cristian Casseres
Nashville SC
The visitors remain without the services of Brian Anunga and Abu Danladi, who are sidelined with knee and hamstring injuries respectively. Jhonder Cádiz will also miss the game after testing positive for COVID-19.
Injured: Brian Anunga, Abu Danladi
Suspended: None
COVID-19: Jhonder Cádiz
New York Red Bulls vs Nashville SC Predicted XI
New York Red Bulls Predicted XI (4-4-2): Carlos Miguel; Kyle Duncan, Aaron Long, Sean Nealis, Thomas Edwards; Dru Yearwood, Junior, Sean Davis, Frankie Amaya, Caden Clark; Patryk Klimala, Fabio
Nashville SC Predicted XI (4-2-3-1): Joe Willis; Daniel Lovitz, David Romney, Walker Zimmerman, Alistair Johnston; Anibal Godoy, Dax McCarty; Randall Leal, Hany Mukhtar, Alex Muyl; C.J. Sapong
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New York Red Bulls vs Nashville SC Prediction
Despite the amount of quality in their squad, New York Red Bulls have struggled for results this season. However, we predict they will build on their impressive performance last time out to end Nashville's unbeaten run on Saturday.
Prediction: New York Red Bulls 2-0 Nashville SC