US Open Cup Match Preview: Nashville SC vs DC United
After an emphatic and emotional win over Philadelphia Union at the weekend, Nashville SC must get right back to it as they have a US Open Cup quarterfinal date with DC United to attend to.
The winner of this game will meet the winner of Wednesday’s other quarterfinal, between Philadelphia Union and New York Red Bulls. Of course, Nashville and DC have already met twice this season, with the clubs playing out a 0-0 draw at GEODIS Park before Nashville picked up a 1-0 win at Audi Field just weeks later.
Let’s take a look.
Match Details
Date: Wednesday, July 9th, 2025
Time: 8:00PM CST (local)
Location: GEODIS Park, Nashville, Tennessee
Watch: CBS Sports Network, Paramount+
Listen: WGFX 104.5FM The Zone (Nashville)
Head Coaches: B.J. Callaghan (NSH), Troy Lesesne (DC)
Lineup Prediction
Nashville put a lot of resources towards their 1-0 win over Philadelphia, which obviously paid off, but it does require some more thinking ahead of this one against DC United.
Nashville is boosted by the returning Walker Zimmerman, who slides right back into the starting lineup after not being used all that much in the Gold Cup for the United States.
He sits ahead of Joe Willis in goal alongside a rotated back four of Wyatt Meyer, Chris Applewhite and Josh Bauer.
In midfield, I’ve got a pairing of Bryan Acosta and Gastón Brugman, though others such as Matthew Corcoran, or the first-choice duo of Eddi Tagseth and Patrick Yazbek could see time here as well.
The front four I think receives alterations, but everything still runs around Hany Mukhtar. Alongside the German is Ahmed Qasem, Teal Bunbury and Jacob Shaffelburg.
Shaffelburg missed Saturday’s squad with a hip injury following his return from Canada duty, so he could miss this one also, but it’s hard to tell.
Analysis & Prediction
Look, as we said the last two times these teams met, DC just isn’t very good. This game is probably going to be torture on the eyeballs, because that’s how DC have to play in order to stay in the game. They just lack the quality necessaryto play more open soccer.
I think Callaghan and co. will make good use of the 180 minutes of film they have against this team, and it will be more comfortable than the last two meetings. Give me Nashville 2-0, with goals from Ahmed Qasem and Bryan Acosta.