Matchday 23: New York City FC hosts Nashville SC in the Bronx

Summer is unofficially ending and New York City FC is returning home trying to end a lengthy winless streak: It's a Friday night, Labor Day Weekend showdown in the Bronx between NYCFC and Nashville SC.

Nashville enters Yankee Stadium on a four-match winning streak and is unbeaten in its last five MLS matches. BJ Callaghan's team has only lost twice all season in MLS play and sits atop the Supporters' Shield standings, nine points clear of second-place Vancouver Whitecaps FC and with dreams of breaking the single-season MLS points record, which stands at 74 points, earned by Inter Miami CF when they won the 2024 Supporters' Shield.

New York City is desperate for a win. The club hasn't won any of its last five MLS matches, and it's been six played across all competitions since the last win, a 2-0 victory over Santos Laguna in Leagues Cup that now feels like a distant memory. NYCFC instead had to settle for back-to-back 1-1 draws on the road, first at New England then at Toronto, so it's at least a modest two-match unbeaten run for NYCFC as it heads into this clash with Nashville.

There are some signs of improvement on the injury front for New York City FC. Neither Alonso Martínez (ACL repair) nor Aiden O'Neill (ankle surgery) are listed on the injury report the club shared heading into the Nashville game. Pascal Jansen said in his pre-match press conference that both Martínez and O'Neill are back in training with the team, though Jansen also said "sometime this month" was the expected timeline for Martínez's return.

Some light might be appearing at the end of the dark, injury-filled tunnel the team has attempted to traverse this season. With the summer transfer window now closed, any reinforcements for NYCFC will likely have to come from within, so returns to health for long-injured absentees will be big storylines to watch in the weeks ahead.

New York City FC finding little luck on the injury front

Thiago Martins and Keaton Parks, recent returnees from injury, had to limp out of NYCFC’s 1-1 draw with Toronto FC, deepening what’s been a season-long string of injury setbacks for some of the team’s most important players.

New York Soccer JournalAndrew Leigh

New York City FC H2H Record vs Nashville

Home teams have earned all seven of the wins in the history of this matchup, though history is limited given the first meeting between these teams only happened in 2021, Nashville's second season competing in MLS.