MLS weekend preview: Short-handed Toronto FC in tough against Nashville

Going up against the best team in MLS away from home is tough enough. Doing it without several key players is even tougher. 

That’s exactly the assignment facing Toronto FC ahead of Saturday’s road match against Nashville SC. 

Nashville (17-3-6) not only sits atop the overall league standings with 59 points, 25 spots and 28 points above Toronto (6-9-11), but it also became the first MLS club to officially clinch a playoff berth last week, doing so with eight games remaining.

The team from Music City looks like a lock to win the Supporters’ Shield, awarded to the team with the best regular-season record, and is on pace to set a new MLS mark for most points in a single season (Inter Miami compiled 74 points in 2024). They’re also unbeaten at Geodis Park this year with 12 wins and one draw, easily the league’s best home record. 

Toronto has to deal with all of that while being short-handed for the trip to Nashville.  

Walker Zimmerman earned his fifth caution in last week’s road loss to St. Louis City SC, meaning the veteran centre back, who used to play for Nashville, is suspended for this weekend's game due to yellow card accumulation. 

Fullback Richie Laryea and defender Richard Chukwu (Canada) and centre back Benjamin Kuscevic (Chile) are also unavailable due to national team duty. Midfielder Markus Cimermancic (Slovenia under-21) will also be absent due to his first career international call-up. And DP midfielder Djordje Mihailovic, one of Toronto’s best creators, will miss his fourth consecutive match with a hamstring injury.

With three-fourths of his back line missing, coach Robin Fraser will have to solve a Nashville side boasting the fourth-best attack in MLS with 53 goals. Sam Surridge ranks third in the MLS Golden Boot race with 16 goals while Hany Mukhtar has 11. Cristian Espinoza is the team's chief playmaker with 12 assists.  

“I think we have a good group of guys, and [there’s] a reason why the team has been built the way it is — because obviously we need to have depth, and we have defenders that we like and we believe in. It's different to not have the guys who we see week in week out, but we certainly have a lot of belief in the rest of the group," Fraser said. 

Nashville has also conceded only 21 goals this season (the best defence in MLS), so breaking them down should also prove to be a challenge for Toronto. 

The timing of the latest FIFA international window couldn’t be any worse for TFC, as they sit 12th in the Eastern Conference, three spots and four points adrift of FC Cincinnati, who hold down the ninth and final playoff berth with eight games remaining. 

Being denied the services of several top players due to national team duty is unfortunate for Toronto. But Fraser isn’t dwelling on it, as MLS often doesn’t shut down for international breaks, so this isn’t new for him as a coach. 

“It is what it is, and we have to deal with it. And we've dealt with this for 30 years in the league now, so it just has become part of what we do. We're certainly looking forward to a time when we won't have these [conflicts] anymore. Is it frustrating this time of year? Probably, based on where we are. If we were sitting at the top [of the standings], it probably wouldn't be that frustrating,” Fraser stated. 

The one thing TFC have going for themselves is that they posted a come-from-behind 2-1 win over Nashville at BMO Field earlier this month, handing the Tennessee-based club only its third loss of the MLS campaign. 

“I don't think [that win] serves as a blueprint so much as it gives us belief. Meaning, they'll change things. They'll have different personnel, so it's not like we can do the exact same things,” Fraser said. 

“But I think it gives us a measure of belief. Obviously, beating a team that's at the top of the table, I think, will definitely have a positive effect. Having said that, there's a reason they're at the top of the table. It's because they're really good, and obviously we need to do a lot of things well, and we need to win our duels and that sort of thing.” 

Elsewhere in MLS this weekend: 

• The Vancouver Whitecaps will try to make it two wins in a row and three in four games when they host D.C. United on Saturday. The Whitecaps sit atop the Western Conference, but three clubs are within five points of overtaking them. What’s more, Vancouver’s next five games after this weekend are away from home, so a win against its Eastern Conference foes at BC Place would give them some extra security (and possibly a bit more breathing room) before they hit the road. 

• Things look pretty bleak for CF Montreal, who’ll host FC Cincinnati on Saturday at Stade Saputo. Montreal has lost five in a row (winless in six) and has just one victory in its last 15 matches. Toiling in last place in the Eastern Conference (and second-last overall), Montreal appears destined to miss the playoffs for a second consecutive year and for the third time in four years. Montreal will be severely short-handed for this match as it’s dealing with some injuries and nine players will be away on national team duty. 

• St. Louis City SC is unquestionably the hottest team in MLS right now, and it will attempt to keep its streak going when it visits the New York Red Bulls on Saturday. Last week’s 3-1 home win over TFC means St. Louis is unbeaten in 16 straight MLS games (18 in all competitions) and hasn’t lost since May 3. This incredible run has allowed them to climb out of the bottom half of Western Conference standings and into fourth place, just five points back of front-runners Vancouver.  

• As far as the hottest player in MLS right now goes, that honour goes to American teenager Cavan Sullivan. The 16-year-old midfielder has scored six goals and tallied five assists in his last six matches for the Philadelphia Union, helping them climb to sixth in the Eastern Conference. Unfortunately for Philadelphia, Sullivan won’t be available for Saturday’s home match vs. Orlando City as he’ll be away with the U.S. national team, which plays Peru in an international friendly the same day. 

• Lionel Messi is on a tear right now. The World Cup winner has scored in each of his last three games and has nine goals and six assists in his previous eight MLS outings. Messi will be looking to keep up his spectacular form when Inter Miami hosts the Columbus Crew on Sunday. Last week, Messi scored his 101st goal for Miami. He leads MLS in both goals (20) and assists (13) this season and looks a very strong bet to win an unprecedented third consecutive league MVP award. 

• French winger Allan Saint-Maximin has hit the ground running since joining Charlotte FC as a free agent in the summer with one goal and five assists in eight MLS appearances. He scored his first goal for the club in last week’s 2-1 win over D.C. United and will try to add another to his tally when Charlotte hosts the Chicago Fire on Saturday. It’s a crucial match between Eastern Conference rivals as Charlotte sits fourth (which comes with home-field advantage in the first round of the playoffs), while Chicago is just four points back.