Dominant Nashville SC squad faces middling NYCFC

Winners of four straight games and sitting atop the league standings, Nashville SC have built the most impressive resume of any Major League Soccer team.

They are 10 points clear of their closest competition in the Eastern Conference and nine points ahead of Western Conference-leading Vancouver.

Yet heading into the club's road match against New York City FC on Friday, head coach B.J. Callaghan believes his team only has begun to ascend.

"If I answer that question, that means I'm putting limitations on my team," Callaghan said when asked how high his team can go. "We're worried about turning the page every single day and getting better in areas where we need it. We want to go from good to elite."

Nashville (16-2-4, 52 points) has allowed just three goals across its four-game winning streak, which was extended on Saturday with a 4-0 blanking of FC Cincinnati.

The team's success is due in no small part to the continued stellar play of goalkeeper Brian Schwake, who became the team's starter this season. The 25-year-old posted his 10th clean sheet in the most recent win and anchors a unit that has surrendered a league-low 17 goals this year.

"I think we're obviously happy with how things have gone, but we've won games and been unhappy with how we've played," Schwake said. "As always, there are things we can improve on and that's just what we have to keep doing: sticking to the same processes and training and analysis and stuff that we've been doing to get these results."

Offensively, Sam Surridge leads the group with 13 goals while Hany Mukhtar owns 10.

Meanwhile, New York City (7-8-7, 28 points) has gone five straight matches without a victory. Three of those outings resulted in 1-1 draws, including a tie with Toronto FC last time out.

For a squad that has grown used to playing in tightly contested matches, Friday's match could be yet another in that trend. NYCFC's last three meetings with Nashville have been determined by a goal or less.

"Obviously Nashville is in a very good place. They've been very consistent throughout the season," said New York City head coach Pascal Jansen. "Somehow, we're always able to make it a very competitive game between ourselves. That's what we're aiming for on Friday here in New York as well."

Nicolas Fernandez paces the team with 14 goals, followed by Agustin Ojeda's five goals and team-leading seven assists.

--Field Level Media