NASHVILLE - Sunday night is soccer night in North Texas.
Nashville SC returns to the Lone Star State for a rematch against FC Dallas on Sunday night at 7:30 p.m. CT. The Boys in Gold are coming off of a historic 1-0 win against Dallas on Wednesday, the club’s first in its MLS history. Nashville SC will be seeking its second-consecutive victory before shifting over to a regional Eastern Conference schedule.
Here’s all you need to know about Sunday night’s match.
Date: Sunday, August 16
Time: 7:30 p.m. CT
Location: Toyota Stadium (Frisco, Texas)
TV: MyTV30
Stream: ESPN+ (Blackout restrictions apply)
English Radio: 102.5 The Game, 94.9 ESPN
Spanish Radio: El Jefe 96.7
Nashville SC is proud to partner with Fox 17, MyTV30 and CW58 of Nashville, TN as the official television broadcast partner. As the club returns to play, matches will be televised in market on MyTV30, while fans outside of the television territory can access matches on ESPN+. For fans who do not have access to a cable provider, all matches are free via antenna on MyTV30. For streamers outside of the Nashville-area, they can watch them on ESPN+ ($5.99 a month). Except for those Nashville SC regular season matches televised nationally, all live matches will be blacked out in the Club's home television territory.
Coverage on MyTV30 begins at 7 p.m. CT with the Prematch Show, and be sure to stick around after for postmatch coverage immediately following the final whistle.
Storylines to Watch
Familiarity Factor - Sunday’s match presents a unique circumstance usually not seen in a regular season: back-to-back matches against the same opponent on the same pitch.
Head Coach Gary Smith is taking that into account when preparing for this match.
“Playing back-to-back games against the same team, the only times you normally see that is when you're involved in cup competitions,” Smith said. “So, both teams will have a much better idea of what the other is about. I do honestly think that Wednesday's game will have taken an awful lot out of a lot of those players on the field physically and emotionally. And in terms of making sure we have the right individuals, the core of the group that can get through 90 minutes, that’s a vital component to what these first couple of games were going to look like.”
After securing a late win on Dallas’ home turf, Smith says his team is prepared to face a stiff challenge from a hungry FC Dallas team.
“The players out on the field will know a lot more about and understand a hell of a lot more than they did when they were on the field on Wednesday, and I'm sure that Dallas will feel exactly the same,” Smith said. “Our mindset will obviously be to try and replicate what happened on Wednesday, and I'm sure Dallas will make it a hell of a lot harder to try and walk out of there with three points again.”
The Willis Wall - Prior to David Accam’s late heroics to score Nashville’s match-winning goal, the story of Wednesday’s match was goalkeeper Joe Willis, who came up with five stops on the night to earn a clean sheet. He commanded the backline as well, making set piece plays with ease and smothering scoring opportunities.
Smith was happy with Willis’ performance and hopes to see another similar performance on Sunday.
“I think Joe was one of the unsung heroes of the night,” Smith said. “Not a huge amount to do, but he was very clean, he was very assured. And I think good goalkeepers have got that presence about them and they support the backline and instill confidence. I felt as though Joe's overall performance and presence did the world of good for what is already a decent backline and we plan to improve on that. When you start to look at the way the first three games have gone for us now there's some nice trends defensively there and Joe’s a big part of that.”
Confidence Built - Some people say the first win is the hardest to get.
Nashville SC has a win under its belt. History has been made and the trivia questions have been written. Now, the Boys in Gold have the task of keeping the momentum up, knowing that they have it in them to figure out a way to win.
“You should see guys feel much more confident about themselves,” Smith said. “And maybe we have a little bit more flexibility then to make some choices, but there may well be one or two changes to that group. I honestly looked at the group and thought most of the guys, even individuals that came off the field, looked in very good condition. Given what they were dealing with down in Dallas, I thought they did very well. Whilst I want to make sure we get the right players on the field, I also want to be appreciative of the fact that the team's gone out and done something that no other team in a Nashville jersey has done at this point, which is gone away from home, win a game and keep a clean sheet.”
