Nashville SC vs. Red Bull New York
2026 MLS Regular Season | Matchday 21
Wednesday, August 19 | 6:30 p.m. CT
Sports Illustrated Stadium | Harrison, N.J.
Broadcast Details
Watch | Apple TV
Listen | 104.5 The Zone
Fresh off the biggest win of its MLS season to date — a 4-1 battering of Inter Miami — Nashville SC hits the road for a midweek match at Red Bull New York. The Boys in Gold sit on 43 points through 19 games, the best record in the league by five points, looking to further solidify their grip on top spot with a first-ever win in New Jersey.
Key Storylines
Veterans, meet rookie
Those who watched the MLS All-Star game a few weeks back will see some familiar faces suit up at Sports Illustrated Stadium on Wednesday night. Nashville, of course, had four participants in that match — Brian Schwake, Andy Najar, Sam Surridge and Hany Mukhtar. But New York had one, too: an 18-year-old starlet who will be the Boys in Gold’s toughest defensive assignment come kickoff.
Julian Hall, who uses “Zakrzewski” on his kit to honor his mother’s Polish heritage, has been one of the breakout stars of MLS in 2026, starting alongside Mukhtar in Charlotte last month. The New York native leads his team in scoring and overall goal contributions with nine goals and five assists in 19 matches, all of which as a starter. He’s also shown remarkable durability for a player in his position at his age; only goalkeeper Ethan Horvath leads Hall in minutes played for Red Bull in 2026. Hall has gone six games in a row without a goal, however, as his team oscillated in and out of form. New York’s last six games are a mixed back: losses to Atlanta, Charlotte and Philadelphia, narrow wins against Orlando, Kansas City and a draw with their in-city rivals New York City FC. In the match before that run, a 3-2 win against Columbus, Hall grabbed a hat trick.
Nashville’s pair of superstar attackers, meanwhile, have rediscovered their scoring touch as the team has rediscovered its mojo in the last few weeks. Surridge and Mukhtar each netted over the weekend against Miami, the former vaulting within two goals on the league lead as the latter grabbed a brace and Player of the Matchday honors. Surridge has also quietly scored in each of his last three starts and four of his last five, helping his team maintain its spot atop the league table.
Wednesday’s match in Harrison, in addition to the first of the season between Nashville and Red Bull, thus marks an interesting battle between youth and experience. Will the Boys in Gold’s pair of league veterans be able to maintain their form from last weekend and carry it into a win at Sports Illustrated Stadium? Or will their fellow All-Star continue his mercurial rise?
Battle of playmakers
Speaking of interesting battles, here’s another one: Emil Forsberg and Cade Cowell vs. Cristian Espinoza and Elias Saad. Few teams in MLS lay claim to as talented a pair of playmakers as these Eastern Conference foes, which have combined for 25 league assists in 2026 and six in their last two games. Whichever duo can have more effect on Wednesday’s match may well be the reason their squad wins it.
Just because the talent and the numbers are there on both rosters, however, does not mean the nature of their play or their role in their team’s attacks are identical. Saad and Espinoza — who sits third in MLS in assists — operate primarily as playmakingwingers, creating bundles of opportunities for the more goal-minded Surridge and Mukhtar. Espinoza sits among the best players in MLS in chance creation and crossing success while Saad looks to be among its most exciting dribblers and incisive passers since joining on loan, a skill set he displayed several times in Nashville’s win against Miami. Both players favor their right foot as well, forcing other teams to the touchline to defend Espinoza and to press against Saad to stop him from cutting inside. Combined with the eagerness of Nashville’s full backs to get forward, this causes a nightmare assignment for defenses.
Forsberg and Cowell provide a different sort of double threat. Red Bull’s intense press rewards players who can catch opponents out with quick, incisive passes and overwhelm them with their athleticism. Cowell is excellent at the latter. Standing 6-foot, 174 pounds, the California native is an explosive, box-crashing winger who beats opponents with his speed and strength. Forsberg is excellent at the former. The Swede is a playmaking central midfielder with the ability to shoot from deep, a role he developedover nearly a decade with RB Leipzig in the German Bundesliga. And as a member of a midfield trio alongside 17-year-old Adri Mehmeti and 21-year-old Ronald Donkor, Forsberg can create from the middle while his young teammates put in the hard yards behind him.
Should Nashville hope to escape New Jersey with a victory, it will have to find a way to match Red Bull’s pace in the center of the park and limit the effectiveness of its press. This will both shut down Forsberg’s passing lanes and limit the destructiveness of Cowell’s speed. New York, meanwhile, must solidify its wings and crowd the box to prevent Saad and Espinoza from creating too much on the dribble or peppering its forwards with crosses.
Series History & What’s Next
New York has been one of the trickiest outs for Nashville throughout its history. The Boys in Gold have yet to win at Sports Illustrated Stadium in four previous visits and only own one win all-time against Red Bull, a 2-1 triumph at GEODIS Park last season.
Nashville heads home upon the conclusion of Wednesday’s match for its fifth home game this month against Columbus Crew, scheduled for Saturday at 7:30 p.m. CT.
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