NASHVILLE – The opening night rematch is finally here.
Nashville SC travels down to Atlanta to take on Atlanta United FC this Saturday, Aug. 22 at 6 p.m. CT. The southern showdown begins a six-match Eastern Conference slate with two matches each against Atlanta, Orlando City SC and Inter Miami CF.
Saturday’s match against Atlanta will be the second-ever meeting between the two sides after they faced off on opening night in front of a record-breaking crowd of 59,069 back in February. Walker Zimmerman scored the first Major League Soccer goal in club history, but Atlanta ultimately came away with a 2-1 win.
Here’s all you need to know about Saturday night’s showdown in Atlanta:
Date: Saturday, August 22
Time: 6:00 p.m. CT
Location: Mercedes-Benz Stadium (Atlanta, Georgia)
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 on streaming services. For tonight’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.
Changes in the A – A lot has changed for Atlanta United since the Five Stripes visited Nashville on Feb. 29. Star striker Josef Martinez tore his ACL that night, ending his season less than one match in. After three losses and a scoreless stint in the MLS is Back Tournament, Atlanta parted ways with coach Frank de Boer after less than two seasons at the helm. Atlanta United 2 coach Stephen Glass was promoted to interim head coach.
Despite all the changes and the five-week layoff after MLS is Back, Head Coach Gary Smith thinks Atlanta is a tough test for his side.
“I’m sure there's a lot of things going on in that group at the moment that are a work in progress,” Smith said. “With de Boer in charge and a championship under their belt, they were always going to be an incredibly tough task in our opening fixture. I'm not saying they'll be any different down there. But, you know, they themselves have had a five-week break when we play them at the weekend. They come off the back of a disappointing tournament from their standards. I'm sure they want to get the second phase of their season off to a reasonable start, but I'm sure there'll be some cobwebs in certain areas.”
Opening Night Overtones – Nashville SC’s MLS debut was almost six months ago, but the memory is still fresh for the Boys in Gold. Despite the time, the players feel they could have taken points from the match, and Smith believes the team will be eager to correct the record on this trip.
“I think the guys will be excited to go down there to pit their wits against the side that have already beaten us once in a situation that ultimately is going to be a very big rivalry,” Smith said. “We'll be going down there to try and put more points on the board, there's no doubt about that. Will they be at their very best, are we at ours? I think in five or six games time, you'll see a completely different picture from both teams, so I'm sure it'll be challenging.
But we'll certainly be in this game and looking to get something out of it.”
Work in Progress – Nashville SC now has four matches under its belt as an MLS club, including two since the season restarted last week. The two clean sheets in Dallas gave Nashville its first four points out of a possible six.
While getting four points in the first two matches back is a good start, defender Dan Lovitz isn’t ready to pat himself on the back just yet.
“We're not getting carried away with it,” Lovitz said. “Quite frankly, I think success would have been defined by six points out of that. So we definitely view the four points overall as something that can be improved upon. But at the end of the day, we are currently now in the same sort of rhythm and flow that we had before everything was shut down. I think we're just looking forward to continuing any sort of positive momentum in the way that we play and the mentality that we have on the field. Most importantly, we're excited that we get to have an opportunity to play a team that we didn't get a result against earlier in the year.”
