The Columbus Crew suffered its first loss of the 2024 campaign in outrageous circumstances away to Charlotte FC last weekend. A 26th-minute red card to Derrick Jones put Columbus behind the 8 ball, with injuries to Rudy Camacho and Christian Hernandez preceding Jones’s sending off. The Crew looks to rebound quickly as they enter another busy period of matches with an away trip to Nashville on Saturday night. The men of the Music City have some injury and form that are lurking ahead of Saturday’s contest. The Crew will likely have a rotated squad ahead in this match as they prepare for their CONCACAF Champions Cup tie with Tigres which begins on April 2nd.

Here is what Crew fans can expect from Nashville and how Columbus can take all three points.

Nashville SC at a Glance:

Record: 1-3-1, 6 points

Recent Form (All Comps): L,W,L,D,D

Leading Scorer: Teal Bunbury (2)

Assist Leader: Shaq Moore, McKinze Gaines, Taylor Washington (1)

Player to Watch: Hany Mukhtar

The 2022 MLS MVP is the best player on Nashville’s roster and one of the best players in the league. Despite a a slow start to his 2024 campaign, the talent Mukhtar possesses is still there and ready to explode. He is a rare attacker who can act as a provider and a finisher and often finds himself with chances to do both throughout any given match. Mukhtar normally operates in the central attacking midfield with the ability to roam about the field wherever he can find space. This helps him facilitate as his team breaks forward and allows him to join attacks in whatever space develops as Nashville progresses the ball forward. The 29-year-old German also excels in attacking transition because he can take on isolated defenders 1v1, as well as make darting runs into open spaces.

When Mukhtar receives the ball with time and space in front of the goal, you may as well forget about it.

For the Crew, Mukhtar’s ability in attacking transition will be most concerning. Due to the Crew’s playing style, there are always chances for the opponents to break out in transition, and Mukhtar is among the league’s elite in these moments. Slowing Mukhtar down in transition will be of a huge importance to the Black & Gold on Saturday.

How Nashville SC play: 

It has been a difficult start to the year for Nashville as they have had injuries and CONCACAF Champions Cup play to contend with thus far in 2024. While they are eliminated from the CCC, they are still dealing with some significant injuries that make it much harder for them to execute coach Gary Smith’s orders. Smith, who has been at the helm in Nashville since their inception, is as consistent as they come in the MLS regarding how he wants his teams to play.

Smith employs his teams to be solid defensively and hurt their opponents in transition and on set pieces. While they will maintain possession at times to help control the tempo of the match, Nashville’s default is to defend and counter. When playing Columbus specifically, they often cede possession knowing that they will have the opportunity to hurt the Crew in transition moments.

Smith’s sides typically operate out of either a 4-2-3-1 or 4-4-2 depending on their opponent and personnel. This is most obvious when they set up defensively. When Nashville plays against a team with three central midfielders, they will play a 4-2-3-1 defensive shape to have three central midfielders defending their opponents three central midfielders. When they play sides with only two central midfielders, Nashville often looks to operate out of a 4-4-2 shape out of possession to maintain a 2v2 in central midfield and use another player to apply pressure higher up the field with an extra player on the forward line. Thus, the Crew can expect to see Nashville defending in a 4-4-2 shape on Saturday.

When in possession, there is some variance and freedom to the Nashville shape. Whether they are playing a 4-4-2 or a 4-2-3-1 a few principles stay the same. Nashville will split their center backs a little wider while pushing their outside backs higher into the attack. Nashville will also keep their two central midfielders a little deeper in central areas to help circulate the ball. The freedom comes from the attacking players. No matter the formation they are in, the Nashville attackers have the freedom to interchange in the central areas of the field. There is often fluid rotation by Nashville’s attacking players to occupy different parts of the field and make different types of runs. This makes the attacking players hard to track for the opposing defense and allows these players the freedom to find ways to impact the game. It can also be effective in pulling opposing backlines out of good defensive positions if they find themselves following the attackers too closely.

How the Crew can win:

This is another important match for the Black & Gold as they get ready for their next CCC tie against Tigres. The Crew must continue to find a way to get points in the MLS despite their CCC efforts so they don’t fall behind the rest of the pack in the increasingly competitive Eastern Conference. Here is how the Black & Gold can take all the points home with them from the Music City. 

1. Stop Nashville/Mukhtar in Transition: Transition is always the name of the game for the Black & Gold, but especially so against Nashville which thrives on transition. Hany Mukhtar especially will need to be contained in transitions. If the Crew have a good rest defense structure and effective counter press like usual, they should be able to limit Mukhtar’s touches in transition.
2. Defend Set Pieces: Nashville is traditionally among the league’s best on set pieces. Although they will be missing Walker Zimmerman and a few other threats from set pieces, the Crew will need to be strong in those moments. Crew fans won’t need reminding of the Black & Gold’s set-piece defending in their last trip to Nashville.

Switch the Point of Attack in Possession: This is fast becoming my favorite thing to watch for the Black & Gold. A growing number of teams are committing large numbers to the areas surrounding the ball for the Black & Gold. Teams are doing this to keep Columbus from playing through them in central areas and limit the balls into Cucho and Diego Rossi’s feet. The Crew has successfully countered this by playing big switches that catch opponents out of position on the other side of the field. Nashville will likely try to keep the play on one side of the field by committing a lot of players to the ball. If the Crew can find quick switches of play, either by a big diagonal ball or quick, clean combinations through the middle, they will have acres of space to run into on the weak side.