Match Preview: Nashville SC vs CF Montréal

(Image courtesy of Nashville SC)

Fresh off back to back wins against Portland and Philadelphia, Nashville SC sits in fifth position in the Eastern Conference, with an outside chance of going top of the table at the end of match day five.

Saturday evening they play host to 13th place CF Montréal, who is entering their fifth of seven consecutive road games to start the year thanks to ongoing construction and weather issues.

Let’s dive in.

Match Details

Date: March 22nd, 2025

Time: Approx. 7:30pm CST

Location: GEODIS Park, Nashvillle, Tennessee

Watch: MLS Season Pass on Apple TV+

Home Radio: 104.5 The Zone

Head Coaches: BJ Callaghan (Nashville), Laurent Courtois (Montréal)

The History

Nashville SC and CF Montréal have met on nine occasions in the past, with Nashville holding a 5W3D1L record. That lone win for Montréal came at Stade Saputo in June 2023, meaning the former Impact have never beaten Nashville in the Music City.

These clubs first met in October of 2020 at what was then called Red Bull Arena, with Nashville picking up a 1-0 win on that day. Their first meeting in the Music City played out to a 2-2 draw in April of 2021.

Last season, Nashville picked up four points in this fixture, with a 0-0 draw on the road, and a commanding 4-1 win at home, thanks in large part to a first hat trick in Gold by Sam Surridge.

Injury Report

Nashville SC

OUT- Bryan Acosta, Tyler Boyd, Maximus Ekk, Matthew Corcoran (int’l duty), Jacob Shaffelburg (int’l duty), Andy Najar (int’l duty)

QUESTIONABLE- Julian Gaines

CF Montréal

OUT- Fabian Herbers, Jalen Neal, Hennadii Synchuk, Jules-Anthony Vilsaint, Giacomo Vrioni, Joel Waterman (int’l duty)

QUESTIONABLE- Fernando Álvarez

Lineup Prediction

International duty has claimed three Nashville players, but only one starter in Andy Najar at right back. He’s the only change to the starting 11 as a result. However, we do have competition for several spots.

Replacing Najar at right back comes down to two players, Josh Bauer and Julian Gaines. There’s pros and cons to each. For Bauer, he does have experience playing in this team at this position under BJ Callaghan last season, however he is a natural centerback and certainly the weaker attacker of the two.

For Gaines, he is a natural right back, has experience, and is probably the more like-for-like change. However, he is coming back from an injury suffered in preseason, and his only match experience thus far this season was with Huntsville last weekend. He carries an injury designation, and thus can’t be considered 100% for this one.

So I’ve gone Bauer. Montréal are really struggling to start the year, and it may not matter that Bauer is a weaker attacking option.

The other competition is the musical chairs that would happen if Gastón Brugman were to enter the starting lineup. This raises all sorts of questions. Who does he displace? What knock-on effects does this have on the rest of the lineup? For instance, if you put Brugman in midfield, but want to leave Tagseth in the lineup, you likely sacrifice Alex Muyl and put Tagseth out wide.

However, for now, I think all stays as it has been.

Analysis and Prediction

As mentioned, it’s not getting any easier for Montréal. Seven road trips to start the 2025 season is incredibly difficult, as Nashville knows themselves. To start the 2022 season, while GEODIS Park was being built, the Boys in Gold played their first eight on the road.

Their first seven games that year? Nashville picked up 11 points, and four through their first four. Montréal are currently sitting on one solitary point, picked up last weekend at DC United.

They haven’t scored a goal in three games, and after this one they get two more intimidating away days to Chicago and Columbus respectively. For a team most already thought would be near the back end of the Eastern Conference, things can’t have gone much worse to begin 2025.

On the flip side, Nashville’s preseason expectations according to most weren’t much higher, yet they’ve managed seven points, and two very impressive wins on the bounce.

Montréal is more than likely going to sit back in a three-at-the-back formation and dare the Boys in Gold to break them down. This is not dissimilar from the approach Portland took in GEODIS Park a couple of weeks ago, and on that night Nashville ran rampant.

Any result better than a loss would give the Boys in Gold their best points haul through five games to start a season in club history (7), and I think they push that mark to ten.

Give me Nashville 3-0 winners here, with a trio of goalscorers, those being Hany Mukhtar, Alex Muyl and Eddi Tagseth.