Reigning MVP Hany Mukhtar and red-hot Nashville SC will aim to stretch their unbeaten streak to nine matches when they visit Toronto FC on Saturday night.
Mukhtar has eight goals and four assists during the stretch in which Nashville has gone 6-0-2, including wins in its last four matches.
Nashville (9-3-4, 31 points) resides in second place in the Eastern Conference and has outscored its opponents 17-7 during the stretch.
Mukhtar scored the winning goal in the 77th minute of last Saturday’s 2-1 road win over FC Dallas. Dan Lovitz set up the goal.
“It’s a brilliant goal from Hany,” Lovitz said afterward. “We are seeing it very consistently. … I just see it so often but it is not something we take for granted. It is just a pleasure to play with him and we just have to keep continuing to put him in good spots where he can be a threat and be really devastating to the other team.”
The goal was the 10th of the season for Mukhtar, tying him for the league lead. He has reached double digits for the third straight campaign. He scored 16 in 2021 and set a career high last season when he led MLS with 23.
Nashville has allowed just 11 goals, second-fewest in the league, entering its second matchup of the season against Toronto FC (3-5-9, 18 points). The teams played to a scoreless tie on April 8 in Nashville.
Toronto is unbeaten in its last three matches (1-0-2) and is a solid 3-1-5 at home this season. It played Minnesota United to a 1-1 road tie last Saturday.
The club knows it will be a challenging matchup against Nashville.
“They’re on a great run. They’ve been one of the better teams in the league,” Toronto defender Aime Mabika said. “Really good players, they have the reigning MVP. They have really good players, but so do we. We expect a really good game, we’re at home.”
Lorenzo Insigne scored Toronto’s goal against Minnesota.
Both teams had players called up for upcoming national team duty. Toronto defender Richie Laryea and midfielder Jonathan Osorio were called up by Canada, while goalkeepers Sean Johnson (United States) and Tomas Romero (El Salavdor) also were recalled.
For Nashville, defender Walker Zimmerman (United States) and midfielder Anibal Godoy (Panama) were recalled.
The teams have met six previous times. Nashville and Toronto have each won twice with the other two matches ending in ties.
–Field Level Media
