Nashville SC vs Minnesota United 07/10/20

07 October 2020

Nashville SC and Minnesota United go head-to-head at the Nissan Stadium for their first-ever MLS showdown.

Nashville’s last eight MLS matches have been notably tight, as 75% (six) of them have ended separating the sides by under 1.5 goals, though Gary Smith’s men suffered just one loss across that period (W3, D4, L1). Also, despite sustaining only one defeat from six MLS home fixtures (W3, D2, L1), the hosts have had problems finding the net so far this term, scoring one goal or less on five of those occasions. In fact, only one franchise from the Eastern Conference has netted fewer goals than Nashville (11) so far, as the home side could only manage 0.78 goals scored per MLS game to this point. A lack of firepower up front is why they’ve failed to pick up a single win from five league outings in which they shipped the opening goal (D1, L5).

Meanwhile, a 2-0 home win over Cincinnati last time out has brought Minnesota’s four-game winless MLS streak (D2, L2) to a halt and marked their second consecutive clean sheet. But, the visitors enter this round on the back of a six-game winless away run in MLS (D1, L5). Frustratingly for the traveling side, they’ve shipped over 1.5 goals on five of those occasions, conceding an average of 2.33 goals across that six-game sequence. Particularly vulnerable after the half-time break, the ‘Loons’ have registered the majority (58.82%) of their total away MLS goals allowed in the second half of play (10/17).