New York City FC v Nashville SC: 'Fourth place is everything', claims Cushing

Nick Cushing has insisted New York City FC's focus must be on rounding off the regular-season strongly as he eyes a fourth-place finish in the Eastern Conference.

His side sit fifth, two points behind current fourth-placed Orlando City after a 3-2 home victory over third-placed FC Cincinnati.

They have two games remaining before the postseason, which they have already secured their place in, but they also have the chance to reach 50 points for the first time since 2022.

With Orlando facing a tough opponent in Cincinnati this weekend, Cushing remains determined to direct his team's focus on their upcoming match.

"The whole aim of not having a mental slip up [against Nashville] is to focus on fourth place," he told the press.

"Fourth place is everything to us. We could be playing top of the league. We could be playing the team bottom of the league.

"Our mentality, our focus, has to be on performing, and on getting intensity into the game and doing the things that have helped us win football games lately because if we continue to win and somebody around us slips up, that fourth place is open for us."

Their visiting opponents, Nashville SC, find themselves in a different predicament as they sit outside of the playoff spots in 13th place.

"I think Nashville are a really difficult team to play against. I think under their previous coach [they were] direct, and incredible on set plays,” added Cushing.

"Hany Muktar is very dangerous. Sam Surridge is a top player. They’ve got good players, and you have to see past results because, with the new coach, they now play a little bit more."

SUNDAY. SHOWTIME. pic.twitter.com/NrZdrZ9Qei

— New York City FC (@newyorkcityfc) October 5, 2024

PLAYERS TO WATCH

New York City – Alonso Martinez

Martinez is the joint-ninth top scorer in the MLS this season with a club-leading 15 goals in 24 appearances so far.

NYCFC have not failed to score in their last five matches, and Martinez will be key to them keeping this streak in the hope of a win against Nashville.

Nashville – Hany Mukhtar

Mukhtar had a goal and an assist in Nashville's loss to D.C. United on Wednesday, his 30th career MLS match with multiple goal contributions.

Only Luciano Acosta and Daniel Gazdag have 20 such matches since Mukhtar debuted in MLS in 2020.

MATCH PREDICTION: NEW YORK CITY WIN

The hosts are in hot form. They have won consecutive matches after recording just one win in their previous 14 in all competitions (D9 L4).

NYCFC have scored eight times in the two matches, the first time the club has scored eight goals in a two-match span since April-May 2022.

Nashville, on the other hand, have lost six of their last seven regular-season away matches dating back to the beginning of July. They have scored just four goals over those seven matches and have only scored 10 times on the road in 2024, the fewest in MLS this season.

OPTA WIN PROBABILITY

New York City – 55.6%

Draw – 22.9%

Nashville – 21.5%