Week 12 game Preview: Charlotte v Nashville
The boys from the Queen City are back in MLS Regular Season action this Saturday as they travel to the Volunteer State for a battle against Nashville SC. Coming into the match, this is a battle between five and six. Charlotte comes into the match sitting pretty in fifth on 19 points while Nashville is hot on their heels in sixth on 17 points. Both teams love some home cooking as Nashville has a 4-1-1 home record while Charlotte enjoys a 5-1-0 record in front of the Fortress Faithful. Both teams share identical road records at 1-3-1 with an equal goal difference of plus six. One thing separating these teams is the offense, Nashville has scored 20 goals to 18 for Charlotte. Will we see an offensive showcase or a defensive masterclass?
Match Details
Date: Saturday, May 10th, 2025
Time: 7:30PM CST (local), 8:30PM EST (Charlotte)
Location: GEODIS Park, Nashville, Tennessee
Watch: MLS Season Pass on Apple TV+, re-airing in Charlotte area on TV64 on Monday at 11PM EST
Charlotte Radio: WFNZ 92.7 FM (English), WOLS 106.1 FM (Spanish)
Nashville Radio: WGFX 104.5 FM (English)
Injury Report
Nashville SC
OUT- Walker Zimmerman, Taylor Washington, Maximus Ekk, Tyler Boyd, Julian Gaines
QUESTIONABLE- None
Charlotte FC
OUT- Nimfasha Berchimas, Nathan Byrne, Brandon Cambridge, Souleyman Doumbia, Jahlane Forbes
QUESTIONABLE- Pep Biel, Tyger Smalls
Charlotte Lineup Prediction
I think the starting XI is similar to the one we saw against The Crew. The only change I could see (and hope to see) is Pep Biel back in the starting lineup. However, If he isn’t able to go, I’ve got Diani getting the start. From the back, we have a back four of Ream and Scardina on the flanks with a centre back pairing of Malanda and Privett. The midfield three will either be attacking or defensive. That depends on Biel, if Biel isn’t able to go, then it’s defensive with Diani, Westwood and Bronico. The front three remain unchanged with Zaha and Abada on the wings withs Agyemang being the man upfront. As you’re used to by now, the man between the pipes is Kristijan Kahlina.
Nashville Lineup Prediction
In midweek against the Chattanooga Red Wolves, Nashville made a full 11 changes from the side that drew on the road in Atlanta. It’s thus perfectly reasonable to assume those 11 changes get un-made so to speak.
So the lineup would be totally changed, but also technically unchanged. You get the idea.
In goal, it’s Joe Willis as always, with a back four of Dan Lovitz, Jack Maher, Jeisson Palacios and Andy Najar in front of him. It’s worth noting that Maher played an hour of soccer on Tuesday after Taylor Washington went down, though that does leave room in the squad to bring up Wyatt Meyer, who could fill in at centerback, left back, or midfield if need be.
The double pivot in this one will most likely be Eddi Tagseth and Patrick Yazbek, as everyone else in that room played more than them on Tuesday (or played at all in Tagseth’s case).
The front four will likely be Sam Surridge, Alex Muyl, Hany Mukhtar and Jacob Shaffelburg, who has more than earned his run of starts lately.
Analysis & Predictions
Alex: Now for my prediction, I think this will be a tough battle for both sides. Playing away from home has been tough for The Crown this season, however, I think Charlotte comes away with three points. I think the back four plus Kahlina stifle any scoring chances from the home side and Wilfried Zaha converts a penalty as extra time expires in the first half after Patrick Agyemang is taken down in the box. The teams go to the break with Charlotte up 1-0.
After a stellar defensive performance, and limited offensive pressure from Charlotte, the final whistle blows and Charlotte has three points and moves up the table. This win won’t be pretty but at the end of the day, three points is what matters. I do think the packed schedule from this past week will hamper Charlotte as fatigue starts to set in during the second half but the boys push through to the final whistle and get a much needed break in play before taking on Orlando on the 14th.
1-0 Charlotte FC
Ronan: We talked about this last time these teams met, but the home/road splits for Charlotte do not look good. It’s even worse if you do splits based on playing surface. In the last calendar year, Charlotte has played 18 games on natural grass surfaces. In those 18 games, the Crown has won just five of them, losing nine and drawing the remaining four.
Just this season alone, 15 of Charlotte’s 19 points have come at home, and their lone road win came at last place Montréal, who have yet to record a win since October 19th.
Those 15 home points would put Charlotte top of the East if home games were all that counted, and they’d be in 10th if you only counted their road form.
What’s interesting is that Nashville’s fortunes haven’t been much different thus far. 13 of Nashville’s 17 points have come at GEODIS Park, which would be good enough for third in the East in that hypothetical table. On the road the Boys in Gold would be in 11th, just behind the Crown but level on points with four.
Also, only the San Jose Earthquakes have scored more goals in front of their own fans than Nashville’s 15. All this is to say that this is set up to be a game of trends.
The trends tell you that Nashville is very good at home. They tell you Charlotte is not very good on the road, and even worse on natural grass, for whatever reason.
They tell you that Nashville typically scores goals for fun at home, and doesn’t concede many. They tell you Charlotte has only scored five on the road, to match the five Nashville has given up at home.
So what’s my prediction? Follow the trends. 2-1 Nashville.