Nashville has only (ever) beaten one team twice: that’s Atlanta United 2, whom they swept at home earlier this Summer. Now, that have a chance to go 3-0 against the Baby Five Stripes by taking the show on the road.
The essentials
Opponent: Atlanta United 2 (5-15-8 USL). 29 GF, 61 GA so far in 2018, 14th in USL East, 14th in USL East Power Ratings and 29th in combined-table Pure Power.
Recent form: ATL (L-L-W-W-D) NSH (D-L-D-L-W)
The Line: Nashville SC -122, draw +247, Atlanta United 2 +278
Time, Location: Wednesday, Sept. 26 6:00 p.m. CDT (7 local) • Coolray Field, Lawrenceville, Ga.
Event: USL Regular season
Weather: 76ºF, 41% chance of rain, 84% humidity, 3 MPH Westerly winds
Watch: Stream on ESPN+. See the list of soccer bars in Nashville if you want to watch in a game atmosphere.
Listen: Locally on 94.9 Game2 in English, 96.7 El Jefe FM en Español.
Follow: @NashvilleSC, @ClubCountryUSA, USL gametracker page, #ATLvNSH
Atlanta United 2
This team has gone in spurts of being competent, but has mostly been one of the worst teams in the Eastern Conference over the course of the season. They’re already officially eliminated from the playoffs, though they’re quite a bit better than the two teams that have joined them down there, Toronto FC II and Richmond Kickers.
As with all MLS 2 sides, the biggest question is what personnel they’ll have available. The first game in First Tennessee Park, Atlanta brought a fairly weak roster. The second time, it was as strong a roster as they’d played all year. With the MLS and USL roster freeze deadlines now in the rearview mirror, at the very least we won’t see anybody completely new.
US Youth internationals Andrew Carleton and George Bello have been with the MLS side (which has a road trip to New York this weekend) lately, so I wouldn’t imagine we’ll see either of them. We also won’t, unlike last time, see an academy keeper brought up for the game. Jon Gallagher, who’s appeared in all but two contests, remains the leading scorer with six goals, despite being a right wingback. Lagos Kunga’s behind him with four, and has the sixth-most minutes on the team, appearing in only one fewer contest. Those guys are consistent presences, and I’d expect that to continue tonight. Centerbacks AJ Cochran and Andrew Kendall-Moulin are also mainstays in the lineup.
Beyond that, it’s basically guesswork who will play.
“I would fully expect, and I know that their group can be interchangeable at any point, but we will go there expecting their strongest team will be out,” said NSC coach Gary Smith. “They did it here, so why would they not do it there. I will prepare for that. They have some extremely talented individual players and some very good team players that may well be in their side. It won’t be easy, but we have not seen one yet that was. It has been a tough season.”
ATL UTD 2 looks to be on as good a run of form as they’ve been on all year, with two wins and a draw in their last five, but their two most recent games were losses, with a 6-1 beatdown by North Carolina FC put on them Friday. One of the wins also came against Toronto FC II, so there’s only so much to read into it. Still, with a more consistent lineup possible, I would bet they round into form to end the year, even the best they can do is third-bottom in the table.
The Boys in Gold
Lebo Moloto is out, which can be a blessing and a curse: the team relies on him to create a lot of the offense… but without him available, spreading the ball around and adding a bit more creativity from non-Moloto players may help those guys find their form heading into the end of the regular season.
“It is getting to the point where we need to get a result down there,” said defender Justin Davis. “We saw what North Carolina did there [Friday] night, so we need to do something similar.”
I’d expect the 4-4-2 without him available, simply because there isn’t the forward depth to play the 3-5-2 (with a true No. 10) without him. Kris Tyrpak has moved off the injury report, so I’d expect the goal-getter to find the field, with Alan Winn on the other wing. Matt LaGrassa probably plays that second striker position behind Tucker Hume, who’s found some form lately.
I’d expect the usual out of the defense, with perhaps an appearance from CJ Cochran rather than Matt Pickens. The game’s in Cochran’s hometown (well, a couple suburbs over), and there’s a really packed schedule to end the year. With Pickens not on top form over the past month or so, it’d be unwise to wear him down with midweek-weekend through the end of the regular season.
Projected lineups
Predictions
Let’s wrap this up, yeah? Nashville wins, 2-0.
Club and Country 