Nashville come to Q2, and Arnaud is not blinking
Austin FC host Eastern Conference leaders Nashville SC on Sunday (1). Davy Arnaud did not sugarcoat it. "Nashville is very good, and we understand that. Listen, there is not an easy game in this league" (1).
Nashville top the East on 60 points and are unbeaten in 10 (1).
Five points off the last wildcard spot
Austin sit 13th in the Western Conference on 31 points (2). The gap to the final wildcard place is five points (2).
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You are unbeaten in eight. Three wins, five draws (2). Five of your last five have gone D, D, W, D, D, and the home form is the part that keeps stalling.
Ramirez owns the last ten minutes
Christian Ramirez has scored five goals in the 80th minute or later this season (5). Nobody in MLS has more, and no Austin player has ever scored that many late in a single season (5).
Your last home game was 3–3 against San Diego FC, and you came back from 3–0 down to get it (3).
Mukhtar is the man to stop
Hany Mukhtar scored his 100th MLS goal, 95 in the regular season and five in the playoffs (6). He is the first Nashville player to reach the mark (6).
Nashville have won three of the five all-time meetings, most recently 2–1 in the U.S. Open Cup final last year (7).
What comes next
After Sunday: LAFC away on Thursday, October 15 (MLS), then Vancouver Whitecaps at home on Sunday, October 18.
Fan reactions
There is a match preview thread up on r/AustinFC with the Nashville setup broken down. What You Need To Know: Austin FC vs. Nashville SC. The other live topic is a podcast interview with Daniela Silva, who was removed from Q2 Stadium at the last home match over a shirt. Away from the pitch, someone is building an interactive map of MLS fans by county and wants Austin input.
