Nashville SC can claim their first victory of the 2024 MLS campaign when they welcome the Los Angeles Galaxy to GEODIS Park on Sunday.
The Boys in Gold converted a 90th-minute penalty last Saturday, earning a 1-1 draw with the Colorado Rapids, while the Galaxy came away with a convincing 3-1 triumph over the San Jose Earthquakes.
Match preview
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It took until the latter stages of the second half last week for Nashville to finally break through a pesky Rapids defensive unit that had numerous players behind the ball.
Their late penalty was the first goal that the Boys in Gold had scored in this competition since netting three versus the New England Revolution in their second-to-last regular-season fixture a season ago.
Gary Smith's men have won nine of their last 10 league contests when scoring in the opening half, though they have not done so since their victory against the Revs on matchday 33 of 2023 (3-2).
Nashville have won their last 17 regular season fixtures when netting multiple times and have not lost in this competition when doing so since August 2022 (4-3 defeat versus Toronto).
This side have been consistently strong versus Western Conference opponents in MLS play, unbeaten against them since a 2-1 defeat versus Minnesota United in mid-August 2022.
They have only gone winless in their opening three MLS regular season fixtures once in club history, collecting a single point from their opening three games of 2021, though they did not lose until matchday eight that year.
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After failing to put Inter Miami away in their opening match of the regular season, the Galaxy showed their ruthlessness in San Jose, netting three goals in 48 minutes.
That was more than enough for Greg Vanney's men last weekend, as they already have more points domestically this season (four) than they had in their opening seven MLS encounters in 2023 (three).
With their victory last weekend, the Galaxy are just one win away from matching their total number of triumphs away from home during the 2023 domestic campaign.
Their victory last weekend was also the first time they won an MLS fixture when scoring in the opening half since a 4-3 win over Minnesota United in September of last season.
While they have conceded in 11 consecutive MLS affairs dating back to last year, conceding just once in each of their first two 2024 domestic encounters is encouraging, seeing as they gave up multiple strikes in their final six domestic encounters in 2023.
LA have never lost a match against the Boys in Gold, playing to a 1-1 draw in their only previous visit to GEODIS Park during the 2022 MLS campaign.
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Team News
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Against the Rapids, Nashville were missing Sam Surridge, who had a sore left shoulder, while former MLS Golden Boot winner Hany Mukhtar sat out with an issue in his left hip.
Tyler Boyd was questionable before their match in Commerce City last week with pain in his foot but played 60 minutes, and Randall Leal did not feature because of a right hip injury.
Joe Willis has conceded just one goal in three of his four competitive fixtures this year, and Teal Bunbury converted a 90th-minute penalty versus the Burgundy Boys.
The Galaxy could be without Jalen Neal once again this weekend as he is dealing with an abdominal injury, while Mark Delgado had his red card suspension overturned and got to start in the California Clasico.
Edwin Cerrillo made his 100th career MLS appearance in their previous encounter, while Jonathan Perez saw the field for the first time in the 2024 regular season, coming on for Diego Fagundez for the final few minutes of injury time.
Dejan Joveljic has scored in both of their regular season fixtures thus far, putting home the winner versus San Jose, with the other goals coming from Joseph Paintsil and Riqui Puig.
Nashville SC possible starting lineup:
Willis; MacNaughton, Zimmerman, Maher, Lovitz; Moore, Davis, Godoy, Shaffelburg; Boyd, Bunbury
Los Angeles Galaxy possible starting lineup:
McCarthy; Yamane, Yoshida, Caceres, Aude; Delgado, Cerrillo, Puig; Paintsil, Joveljic, Perez
We say: Nashville SC 0-1 Los Angeles Galaxy
The Galaxy are showing their attacking potential early into the new campaign, and we believe they will carry the play against a Nashville side that are among the top defensive units in MLS but do not have many chance creators going forward.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Joel Lefevre
