What to watch for as Nashville SC visits Houston Dynamo in pivotal clash

NASHVILLE - Nashville SC (4W-6L-6D, 18 pts.) is back in action this Wednesday night with a showdown at the Houston Dynamo (4W-6L-7D, 19 pts.). 

The Boys in Gold are coming off of a tough 2-1 defeat on Sunday night at the hands of Sporting Kansas City, which snapped a four-match unbeaten run. Now, Nashville faces another team fighting for a playoff berth. The two clubs faced off in Music City on Sept. 26., playing to a 1-1 draw.

Here’s everything you need to know about Saturday’s match:

Date: Wednesday, Oct. 14
Time: 7:00 p.m. CT
Location: BBVA Stadium
TV: MyTV30
In-Market Stream: YouTube TV, AT&T TV, NashvilleSC.com/stream
Out-of-Market Stream: ESPN+
English Radio: ESPN 94.9
Spanish Radio: El Jefe 96.7
Broadcast FAQs

Bounce Back - Nashville SC will look for a rebound performance on Wednesday after a tough loss on Sunday at Sporting KC. The Boys in Gold took a lead into halftime on defender Walker Zimmerman’s goal, but an equalizing goal and red card within 10 minutes of halftime undid that progress. 

Despite the defeat, Head Coach Gary Smith says his players should feel upbeat going into Wednesday. 

“I don’t think morale is a huge problem with this group,” Smith said. “We got beat under extreme circumstances against a very good team. Wednesday’s game will come around quickly. The challenge for us will be recovery, making sure we have the right combination of fresh legs and obviously rest to get a very difficult job done again. Houston is renowned for having a terrific home record, and their front line is one of the most devastating in the league. It’s not going to be easy with three out of four away games. We always looked at it as being one of the toughest stretches in our season. Somehow, some way, we’ve got to stay in the race and give ourselves an opportunity when we go back home and take advantage of it.”

Shifting and Shuffling - Nashville SC’s lineup has seen plenty of changes over the last few weeks due to injuries. That shuffling could continue with a couple of players coming off the injury list this week in midfielder Aníbal Godoy and defender Jimmy Medranda, as well as with the suspension of defender Alistair Johnston due to the double yellow he received at SKC. 

Midfielder Randall Leal says he feels comfortable playing with anyone that slots in around him on the pitch. 

“As a group, we all play together at some point, so when I play with one of my teammates or the other, I try to know what each one likes,” he said. “One of them likes to receive the ball in space or another to his foot. So more or less I try to learn what they prefer.”

Homecoming - On September 26, goalkeeper Joe Willis faced Houston Dynamo for the first time since being traded to Nashville in 2019. Now, he returns to play in Houston for the first time since the trade. 

Willis spent five seasons in Houston before coming to Nashville. He’s having a stellar season for Nashville SC, topping his career high with seven clean sheets so far this season. He’ll look to extend that mark to eight against his former club. 

“It’s going to be kind of weird,” Willis said. “Houston has a history of performing well at home, so it’ll be a tough game for us. It’ll be nice to be in a familiar place, but we have some work to do. Three points has to be our only focus.”