Soccer
Pat Noonan believes his FC Cincinnati side will be going up against the best team in MLS on Saturday, when they visit B.J. Callaghan’s record-breaking Nashville SC side.
After last week’s thrilling 3-2 comeback win over the Columbus Crew, Nashville have 49 points from 21 games this season.
That is the most ever collected by a team at this stage of a single MLS campaign, surpassing the previous record of 46 – held jointly by the LA Galaxy in 1998, Los Angeles FC in 2019 and the New England Revolution in 2021.
Nashville are 10 points clear of Inter Miami at the top of the Eastern Conference and boast a nine-point advantage in the Supporters’ Shield race, while Miami’s single-season points record of 74 (set in 2024) also looks beatable.
And Noonan is under no illusions as to the size of the task awaiting his team at GEODIS Park.
“It’s a strong group that will be a good test for us,” Noonan said in his pre-match press conference on Thursday. “Coach Callaghan is doing a great job.
“You can see with the amount of time he’s been with the group, the consistency of the players… they’re the best team in the league.
“But what sticks out is the consistency of their play over the course of the season. I think both sides of the ball are very effective in their play.
“How they step to the ball, how they make it difficult for opponents to break them down. I think they all work together in a really strong way. They can beat you with possession, they can beat you in transition – they can pose a real threat.
“But they can beat you with direct play. They can be scrappy at set-pieces. They’ve had some nice designs.
“When you’re talking about the best teams, they do a lot of things well, and that’s what we’re seeing from them.”
We like the view up here pic.twitter.com/NJnXcEiaMV
— Nashville SC (@NashvilleSC) August 25, 2026
Cincinnati are also well-positioned in the East, sitting sixth in the standings following a 1-1 draw with the Seattle Sounders last time out, which extended their unbeaten run to four MLS games (W2 D2).
PLAYERS TO WATCH
Nashville SC – Hany Mukhtar
Mukhtar provided a goal and an assist for Nashville in their win over Columbus.
That was Mukhtar’s 16th regular-season match with at least one goal and one assist since he joined MLS in 2020, the fourth-most games by any player in that time, after Lionel Messi (24), Lucho Acosta (19) and Evander (18).
FC Cincinnati – Evander
Evander recorded his 31st career regular-season goal for Cincinnati against Seattle last time out, equalling Brenner for the third-most regular-season goals in their MLS history.
The Brazilian has only played 52 league matches with Cincinnati, far fewer than those above him – Acosta (125 games, 48 goals) and Brandon Vazquez (122 games, 32 goals).
MATCH PREDICTION – NASHVILLE SC
With a pair of 2–1 wins in 2025, Cincinnati have won back-to-back games against Nashville for the second time in the clubs’ all-time series (also in 2023).
Nashville won consecutive games back in 2021, but neither team has ever won three straight in the fixture.
And given Nashville’s tremendous form, they are favourites on home soil.
Nashville are unbeaten in their last 11 home regular-season games, winning 10 of those to collect 31 points in that span.
Since 2021, the only other MLS team to earn 31 points over a span of 11 home matches was Cincinnati in 2023, when they had three overlapping spans.
OPTA WIN PROBABILITY
Nashville SC – 52.2%
FC Cincinnati – 25.1%
Draw – 22.7%
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