D.C. United looks to get back in the win column tonight as they welcome Nashville SC to Audi Field. After the Black-and-Red fought their way to a 4-match winning streak across all competitions, they’ve lost their last two matches. Last weekend in MLS play, D.C. United couldn’t get anything together in a 2-0 loss to FC Cincinnati, and they followed that up with a 1-0 loss to the New York Red Bulls in the U.S. Open Cup on Tuesday.
With Nashville currently sitting 3rd in the Eastern Conference standings, it’s yet another test for D.C. United, who are sitting in 8th place and looking to stay above the playoff line. They are looking to minimize mistakes on defense and continue to generate the offense needed to put some goals on the board. Nashville could be missing the heart of their defense, and there is a prime opportunity to take advantage of the hole that remains in the middle of Nashville’s back line. However, former D.C. United goalkeeper Joe Willis has been terrific, which means that D.C. will need to pressure him by putting balls on frame. A quick start will help, as Nashville is known to get stronger as the match progresses.
Key Player: Pedro Santos
D.C. United could really use some production from Pedro Santos. After 23 goals and 34 assists in league play entering this season, he has just 1 assist on the season so far. He was brought to Audi Field to generate offense, but so far he’s been a non-factor in a lot of matches. It would be great for him to show the home fans what made him so dangerous when he was in Columbus.
Watch Out For: Hany Mukhtar and Fafà Picault
Hany Mukhtar is the reigning league MVP, and so far in 2023 he’s just picked up where he left off. He has 6 goals on the season, including a hat trick last weekend against Chicago, and 5 assists as well. He’s the guy that Nashville looks to in order to generate offense. Fafà Picault has poured it on lately, with 2 goals in his last 3 matches. D.C. United will have to make sure he doesn’t get into space because he can be dangerous inside the box with quick feet and quick shots.
Challenges: Nashville has earned results in 5 of their last 6 league matches, including 2 wins in a row (3 if you count their midweek U.S. Open Cup win over FC Dallas). D.C. United, on the other hand, have lost 2 straight and are looking to keep their playoff positioning.
Previously: D.C. United only played Nashville once last season, and it was not a great match. On national TV, Nashville came to Audi Field and put the beatdown on the Black-and-Red, winning 3-1.
Nashville SC Availability:
Out: Nick DePuy (lower body injury)
Questionable: Walker Zimmerman (lower body injury)
D.C. United Availability:
Out: Martin Rodriguez (knee), Nigel Robertha (ankle), Mohanad Jeahze (thigh), Steven Birnbaum (hip), Andy Najar (calf),
Pedro Santos (thigh)
Questionable: Ted Ku-DiPietro (ankle)
Location: Audi Field, Washington, DC
Kickoff time: 7:30 pm ET
Referee: Nima Saghafi
Available streaming: MLS Season Pass on Apple TV
Once again, I’m impressed by how regular the DP content is and how early it’s up. Kudos Sarah to you and your team.
Typically, Nashville is a tough team to break down, especially on the road. But if Zimmerman is out, I think Benteke and a lot of direct soccer may be exactly what the doctor ordered–especially on some quick transitions.
I think the deal with Nashville is to get an early lead (duh!) because it forces them out of their “let’s park the bus and seek to counter” MO. They can do more than that, but they’re especially good when they do that (park the bus).
This is all credit to Donald today! I’m out sick 😭 and he stepped up to make sure DP is delivering for our awesome community!
Also, Sarah, per Rooney Pedro Santos is unavailable for an injury. As always, Benteke and Taxi combination is key, especially with Nashville’s Zimmerman sidelined.
That’s on me. I went with Pedro since he wasn’t listed on the official report and we could definitely use a boost in production from him. i guess it will have to wait a week!
My suggestions/corrections to you Donald and Sarah are never meant as criticisms. I share with JoeW great appreciation for the volume, quality and timeliness of DP postings. My only regret is that more members of the Commentariat should weigh in on the excellent coverage that DP is giving the Spirit and Loudoun United.
Yes, it’s great to have reliable coverage of DCU and the WS and LU!
Kudos to Donald and the staff for getting us ready for game night!
I’m all set up, and whatever the lag, will NOT be restarting my computer for freshness, as last time damn thing refused to let me back on the site.
And honestly, how is this rivalry week when DC isn’t playing the Red Bulls? Proximity is nothing compared to the loathing we have for each other, MLS is like, “so, Nashville, amirite, DC? Just kidding, we didn’t think of you.”
Attending my cousin’s wedding so have a fun watch, y’all! The lineup is surprising. I wonder if an illness has run through the locker room as no Benteke is a bit shocking and brining in Durkin rather than another striker is an odd move.
Either way. Both teams are without one of their best players so this should be an interesting match. Not expecting a goal fest without the big man up top.
Okay turning my phone off now. VAMOS!
Well this is a lineup…and a very thin bench. This could be a rough one
So….. What’s up with Benteke?
Goff is reporting minor injury. Will be back on Wed @Philly
Damn, Taxi has played well in the last few games, but has spent a lot of time on the ground riding through physical stuff. Know this is a big week if we want to recapture momentum. Taxi goes back on the field after clutching his hamstring, don’t like it, think we should use some subs early and hope for a draw, and he’s already likely out again. Fuck
Word salad a bit, Taxi has been riding the red zone with injuries since his return, and think we’ll lose him now for a bit.
Don’t know why we he went back out after holding his hamstring after a run, went down hard without contact. It’s a long season, think everyone involved was dumb as rocks on this one.
Have to say thats a first time Ive seen cupping marks on a soccer player before.
Well, losing both Taxi and Benteke is obviously not great on its face, but right now, we have a game to play, and not a shape going forward to speak of.
Durkin with an ambitious ball over the top to tempt Willis out, Hurtado is maybe the last person I want on the end of that,
Ha, Durkin is with a wicked shot off the crossbar, Chris, are you a second striker? Such a strange player, but if he gets us a goal, I won’t complain, for sure
Samake has exactly one play…run to the end line and pass back to the six. Which apparently not a single DC United player is expecting(?)
Well? Half. No Benteke, no Birnbaum, and pretty quickly, no Taxi, and yet, we have to be dominating the stats broadly on this one. 0-0, Nashville look unsettled and are deflecting more than playing.
Will be interesting how this develops.
That said, I really wish that the staff had rested Taxi this week, even without Benteke. This isn’t hindsight, either, was calling for this after the last game and all the near scares.
That was an entirely clean tackle by Pines, Muyl is an ass
“Pines misses with his feet just barely from a narrow angle” is a weird sentence
Hurtado has not looked as unskilled or unimpressive as I expected, so despite him not coming anywhere close to scoring so far, I’m retracting my “Berry 2” moniker at this point.
He’s better than Berry. He’s not fast but he’s mobile enough, Berry was a statue in my view.
If statues ran into the same lane as Benteke all the time…
I think that’s a hand ball goal
Weird ass play that doesn’t go in without an arm, to my perspective. Forget about it, it’s (Nashville)
Calen Carr is correct. Fitting goal for this game. Miserable game to watch thus far, imagine just about every neutral would have turned this one off ages ago.
I’ve found good things about this game, but one of them is definitely not Klich, he’s been kind of atrocious going forward
Fletcher, TKD, and Dajome in for Canouse, Ruan, and Durkin. The first to identify our shape gets a prize
Fletcher with a tremendous assist to TKD!!! Fletcher has been largely unused since being very instrumental in the home opener, so… yeah, let’s play him more, at least as a sub
Really have not got to see much of the kids under Rooney. Heck 30 minutes tonight instead of 10 would have been great (especially so short handed), but still happy they have made an impact.
Fletcher was bad in the two Open Cup games, his play didn’t scream more minutes, but he made a nice play tonight and looked much better in the open field so hopefully he can build on that.
We’ve really undervalued the open cup with our lineups, that he steps up to this level and has impacted MLS games, I’m not gonna begrudge him that
Sure, I just don’t think anyone watched the Open Cup matches and concluded that guy deserves more first team minutes.
This has been a problem the last several years imo. Losada really struggled to integrate players 12-18 into the lineup and it helped make our injury problems worse because there was little chemistry between the starters and the subs. So when one player went down and was replaced the next guy up took a bit of time to get into a groove.
More than that, when you put subs into a game too late they can tend to try and force plays because they’re trying to make the most of their opportunities.
I acknowledge that it’s a difficult balancing act to keep the subs and starters both happy and in-form, but I think Rooney needs to improve that part of his coaching.
It really depends on who’s available is the thing. We know Ted’s gonna be dangerous off the bench. Williams seemed to have been ready to fill in for Birnbaum. Fletcher has been hit-or-miss. Our wingers have gone down like flies, and at some point the 3rd or 4th option just isn’t good.
Not gonna lie I really like Turbo DC that we’ve been doing since the subs. I know its not sustainable but man is it FUN soccer
I was only slightly kidding with the “first to identify our shape gets a prize” comment. We’re going forward, is what we’re doing! Which honestly might be doing a disservice to Fletcher’s development to make it that loosy goosy, but glad for a point
Well, I’ll take Fletcher and TKD’s chemistry over Muyl’s armpit any day. Stupid that it’s a draw after all that, but hopefully we see more of the impact youngsters.
Picking up a point from a losing postion normally feels alright. This one feels much more empty. Too many dropped points at home.
Also some clarity on an obvious point, this team can’t afford to lose Benteke for an extended strech. The depth just isn’t there right now.
You certainly don’t replace him with Hurtado in any aspect. Hurtado cleared my exceedingly low expectations tonight, but will say, even as plays developed, he was making some strange runs that no one was gonna find him on.
I like this draw, coming from behind without their best two attackers, good stuff. Unfortunate calamity between Pines and Miller besides, they were the better team on the night. If Ruan or Samake could complete some final third passes/crosses, they win tonight.
As I said above, Hurtado didn’t do a good job as lone striker of finding seams when Ruan or Samake could cross, if anything, he kept cutting to the back post at an angle he was unlikely to convert anyway
Honestly the fact that we tied at 1-1 with the best defense in the league. Who now including this result have only given up 7 goals in 12 games. That’s ~.58 goals allowed/game. This definitely felt like one we could win early on. But once we lost Taxi I was hoping for a draw.
I can live with a draw, especially since we were trailing and it’s against Nashville. Ted Ku-DiPietro does it again. Nice secondary assist by Klich that frees Fletcher and then the young guy with the precise pass in traffic.
Now, let’s hope that Taxi and Benteke will be good to go soon.
I want us to bring Taxi back from this hamstring with a lot more care. Clearly the staff were milking his impact rather than tending his recovery.
Ku gets the start in Philly. Great chance to play hero again.
At this point, if we’re going to 3-4-3 a bit more than a 3-5-2, I’d be interested in Fletcher LWF, TKD CF, and Dajome RWF for extended minutes.
I think Fletcher looked pretty poor in the Open Cup. I think he’s best suited to impact sub at this point. Let him come on against tired defenses and build his confidence/abilities that way rather than throwing him into the proverbial fire.