With its winning streak gone, the Union face a huge test at Nashville SC
The Union lead MLS in points, but there are several teams hot on their trail, including Nashville.
When the Union’s 11-game unbeaten streak snapped with a 1-0 loss to the Columbus Crew last Sunday, Nashville SC’s run of 11 games without a loss became the longest active unbeaten stretch in the MLS.
The Union are hoping to be on the right side of a broken streak when they travel to Geodis Park to face Nashville on Saturday (8:30 p.m., Apple TV+).
“We know that they are on a streak now,” centerback Jakob Glesnes said. “So we want to give them the same feeling that we had last week.”
Despite last weekend’s loss to Columbus, the Union (12-4-4, 40 points) held on to first place in the Eastern Conference. FC Cincinnati sits a point behind the Union, and Nashville (11-4-5, 38 points) trails by two points.
Availability was an issue for the Union throughout June. It should be less of a problem as the Union enter July’s slate, with the Concacaf Gold Cup entering its final stages and players working back from injury.
Nathan Harriel and Quinn Sullivan will miss the Union’s match in Nashville as they wrap up their time with the U.S. men’s national team. Harriel and Sullivan have both been with the U.S. since the first week of June and will return shortly after the U.S. plays Mexico in the Gold Cup final on Sunday (7 p.m., Fox29).
» READ MORE: The USWNT has not just a new era of players, but a new era of leaders
Including Harriel and Sullivan, the Union were without eight players in Columbus. Ian Glavinovich, Mikael Uhre, Frankie Westfield, Tai Baribo, and Olivier Mbaizo were injured, while Glesnes served a one-game suspension for yellow card accumulation.
Glesnes, a 2025 MLS All-Star, will return against Nashville. Union coach Bradley Carnell said the team would make a decision on whether its other All-Star, Baribo, will travel to Nashville with the team by Friday.
Baribo, the Union’s leader in goals (13), injured his calf in the Union’s scoreless draw with FC Dallas on May 31. The forward has missed three matches but was listed as questionable ahead of the Union’s match against Columbus.
Carnell said the team also would have a travel decision to make for Mbaizo on Friday. Westfield, Uhre, and Glavinovich remain out, but Carnell said Thursday that Westfield is “edging closer to a return.”
Saturday’s meeting between the Union and Nashville will be the second and final regular-season match between the Eastern Conference contenders. Nashville handed the Union their first loss of the season, 3-1, on March 16 at Subaru Park. Sam Surridge, Ahmed Qasem, and Hany Mukhtar scored for Nashville.
“Matchday 4 is not Matchday 21,” Carnell said. “There’s a big change between them. I feel that we have gotten better in many, many aspects.”
Surridge has emerged as a top offensive player in MLS this season. The English forward is the league’s leading goal scorer with 16 across 20 matches. Surridge is trailed by Baribo, who has scored 13 in 16 matches. Mukhtar, the 2022 MLS MVP, combines with Surridge to form a powerful attack for B.J. Callaghan’s Nashville team.
“[Surridge] and Mukhtar up top, they can create something by themselves,” Glesnes said. “But we have also been good. We have been really good defensively. Hopefully, we’re going to minimize them.”
» READ MORE: Are soccer fans more unhinged than Philly sports fans? A conversation between Inquirer journalists
If the Union can win on the road against Nashville, it would stand as one of the best results in Carnell’s first season at the helm. Despite leading the race for the Supporters’ Shield, the Union have struggled against other top teams.
The Union are 2-3-3 against teams in the top 10 spots of the leaguewide standings. The Union have not beaten a team in the top 10 of the Supporters’ Shield race since a 4-1 win over FC Cincinnati on March 1. The win was the Union’s home opener, and it still stands as arguably their best result more than halfway through the MLS season.
“We have shown over the first 20 games that we have a really good squad now that is working hard [and] together to get the results that we want,” Glesnes said. “We just have to be ourselves and go out there and believe that we’re going to take three points.”
Carnell says he’s not concerned about the Union’s place in the standings. He’s more interested in how the team has grown since he took over in January.
“How we’ve grown as people,” Carnell said. “How we’ve grown as players and coaches and staff, and everyone in these four walls from a pretty desolate state in January. That’s what I look at, the bigger picture. … For sure, we have the status, and for sure we have a target on our back. But at the end of 34 matchdays, that’s when you round up the table and see where you’ve finished.”