Anibal Godoy insists that Nashville are already looking at their game against San Jose Earthquakes on Saturday as a must-win.

Nashville have won just once in the MLS this season and sit in 14th place in the Eastern Conference after a run of four without a win.

The Earthquakes, meanwhile, are bottom of the Western Conference having lost eight of their matches and recording just one win.

Godoy is aware of how their poor start to the season could affect their playoff hopes later down the line but is confident that Nashville can turn things around.

He said: “For us, it's an important week. It's a day we have to win, or we'll start to feel the pressure from other teams as they start to separate in the table.

“This league is long but if we want to get to the playoff you have to win games early on, especially at home.”

The midfielder knows the Earthquakes will prove a tough test despite their poor start to the season, adding: “The stats say one thing, but the team says different. The way they play shows that they create so many chances, but they are not having any luck in the last couple of games.

“They controlled the games that they lost, and we need to be aware of that threat. They play better when they go away. We need to think about us - they've come to do something, but we need to look at where we can improve to get three points.

“If we take three points then everything changes for us.”

PLAYERS TO WATCH

Nashville – Hany Mukhtar

Mukhtar has been involved in all three goals Nashville SC has scored against the Earthquakes, scoring twice in April 2022, and recording an assist for Nashville’s lone goal in September 2023.

San Jose – Cristian Espinoza

Espinoza may only have scored one goal so far this season, but he currently leads the team in assists, setting up five goals so far, including Benjamin Kikanovic’s goal in their defeat to LA Galaxy last time out.  

MATCH PREDICTION: NASHVILLE SC WIN

Going back to the end of last season, Nashville SC have won only one of their last 11 MLS matches (D4 L6, incl. playoffs). They won six times of their seven matches from late April to early June last season but have won just five times in 28 league matches since (D10 L13, incl. playoffs) since.

However, the Earthquakes have lost eight of their first nine matches of the season (W1), the third team in MLS history to do so (D.C. United in 2010, Toronto in 2012). Only Toronto in 2012 lost nine of their first 10 matches of a campaign.

All three previous meetings between Nashville SC and San Jose ended in draws, all with different scorelines (0-0, 1-1, 2-2).

OPTA WIN PROBABILITY

Nashville – 54.1%

Draw – 26.4%

San Jose Earthquakes – 19.5%