What to Watch For as Nashville SC returns home to face Inter Miami CF

NASHVILLE – For the first time since February 29, Nashville SC is back home at Nissan Stadium.

The Boys in Gold host fellow 2020 Major League Soccer expansion side Inter Miami CF on Sunday night. It will be Nashville SC’s first home match since its MLS debut in front of 59,069 fans and the first meeting between the two 2020 expansion clubs.

Here’s everything you need to know about this Sunday’s match:

Date: Sunday, August 30
Time: 7:30 p.m. CT
Location: Nissan Stadium (NOTE: Sunday’s match will be played without fans. Read more here.)
TV: MyTV30
In-Market Stream: YouTube TV, AT&T TV
Out-Of-Market Stream: ESPN+ (Blackout restrictions apply)
English Radio: ESPN 94.9
Spanish Radio: El Jefe 96.7

NOTE: Nashville SC recently announced that matches can be viewed locally on streaming services. For Sunday’s match, we have received confirmation that YouTube TV and AT&T TV will show the match. Stay tuned to the Nashville SC social media channels for updates. Read the release here for more information. 

Back Home Again – Sunday’s match will be Nashville’s first at home in 178 days after the season pause due to COVID-19 and four consecutive road matches upon resuming the MLS regular season. Due to COVID-19 restrictions, the team hasn’t been able to practice inside Nissan Stadium ahead of Sunday, but Head Coach Gary Smith is still looking forward to maximizing this opportunity at home.

“We’ve got to try and personally take advantage of what our home field represents,” Smith said. “We’ve only played one game there, but this will be the first opportunity we have to try and create a bit of an environment where we do our uppermost to see if we can have some advantages at home.”

All-Expansion Showdown – This will be the first meeting between the two 2020 MLS expansion sides. Nashville sits one point ahead of Inter Miami in the Eastern Conference standings with a win and a draw, while Miami has three points with their first win coming last weekend against Orlando City SC.

Smith understands that his side and Miami are in similar positions when it comes to the difficulties of building a brand-new team in the midst of a season unlike any other.

“It doesn’t matter who they sign to their roster, the likelihood is those players have never worked on the same field together before, maybe one or two of them,” Smith said. “You’ve got a brand-new coach, a brand-new environment, the players have a brand-new city to settle into, and of course they’re dealing with the same problems with logistics and schedules as we are. The difficulties that we’re both encountering is that you’ve got to try and find a rhythm and an understanding. The one thing that both teams need are games, they need games and time to work together on the training field and an understanding between individuals.”

Black Lives Matter – Sunday will be Nashville SC’s first match since the sports world was put on pause this week in solidarity with the Black Lives Matter movement against racial injustice.

The Boys in Gold will continue to make their stance clear in the fight for social justice even as play resumes.

“We all see it every day,” said forward Abu Danladi. “Enough is enough. It’s time that people are speaking up. To me, as a Black guy, I’m African, but I know that it’s hard, the whole fear behind police brutality and all of that. I feel like, for me I’m happy the league and the teams are sticking together to come as one to talk about this issue because it’s a very important issue. Every team and every player in the league that has taken a stand, I say respect to them and keep doing that and we’re going to do our part as well.”

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