Intelligence Report: Orlando City vs. Nashville SC

Well gang, we’ve reached the end of another work week, and that means another Orlando City game is almost upon us. Saturday’s match sees Nashville SC face off with our beloved Lions, as OCSC will try to beat the Coyotes for the first time in 2025.

A visit from Nashville means I spoke to Ben Wright, the executive editor and one of the founders of the always excellent SixOneFive Soccer. He was kind enough to bring us up to speed on Nashville, and I also took the time to answer some of his questions about Orlando City, so make sure you check those out over at their place.

Nashville has hit a slight speed bump in the league, losing the last two games it’s played since these two teams last met. Considering one was a weird game against Atlanta, and the other was on the road against Cincinnati with a U.S. Open Cup semifinal on the horizon, is it fair to say that alarm bells aren’t ringing despite those results?

Ben Wright: Yeah, I don’t think the alarm bells were sounding too loudly. Obviously the results were poor, especially considering they probably knocked Nashville out of Supporters’ Shield contention. But for the most part, the performances on the pitch were pretty good. They were dominant against Atlanta and did enough to get a point in Cincinnati. They left a lot of chances on the table and had some defensive snafus, but overall weren’t bad. The 3-1 U.S. Open Cup semifinal win against Philadelphia certainly cleared some of those concerns.

It has to be said that outside of that 5-1 drubbing of the Lions back in August, Nashville hasn’t scored more than once in the league since a 3-0 win over Columbus on July 16. Is that down to the poor finishing you highlighted last time we spoke, or has something else been going on?

BW: Yeah, I know it’s not the most satisfactory answer, but I really think sometimes the ball just doesn’t go in. The chance creation numbers dropped slightly, but as a whole I don’t think a ton has changed about the approach. They certainly could use a third scoring option behind Hany Mukhtar and Sam Surridge. They’ve both played a ton of minutes, and Mukhtar especially has looked drained toward the end of matches. For now, they’re stuck with what they have, but it’s certainly something to address in the winter.

You also mentioned wanting better ball progression from Eddi Tagseth and Patrick Yazbek when we last talked. Have things looked more to your liking in that area, or is there still work to be done?

BW: I think Yazbek has actually grown a ton over the summer in his impact on the attack. He’s really emerged as Nashville’s most consistent midfielder. Gaston Brugman has worked his way into the XI, and he’s been awesome. His distribution is fantastic and he’s able to unlock a defense unlike anyone else in the squad, and he actually covers a decent amount of ground defensively. It’s resulted in Eddi Tagseth ending up on the outside of the starting lineup most weeks. I think midfield is in a better place now than it was last time around.

Will anyone be unavailable due to injuries, suspensions, etc.? What is your projected starting Xi and score prediction?

BW: Walker Zimmerman was a surprise miss for the Open Cup semifinal. Callaghan said it was just rest, but I really have trouble believing that. We’ll see if he’s listed on the injury report. Jonny Perez came off after 15 minutes against Cincinnati with a quad injury, Ahmed Qasem came off at halftime against Philadelphia with some sort of knock, and Tyler Boyd wasn’t even in the squad. The wings are thin right now.

XI: Joe Willis; Daniel Lovitz, Jack Maher, Jeison Palacios; Gaston Brugman, Patrick Yazbek; Alex Muyl, Jacob Shaffelburg; Sam Surridge, Hany Mukhtar

I’m going with a 1-1 draw.

A big thanks to my fellow Ben for the informative update on Nashville. Vamos Orlando!