Arnaud Insists Austin 'Up for Any Challenge' as Eastern Leaders Nashville Come to Town
Austin FC interim head coach Davy Arnaud has backed his players to rise to the occasion as they prepare to host Eastern Conference leaders Nashville SC at Q2 Stadium, with the Texans still clinging to outside hopes of an MLS Cup Playoff place.
Playoff chase still alive
Austin sit 13th in the Western Conference on 31 points, just five adrift of the LA Galaxy in the final wildcard place. They return from the international break unbeaten in their last eight league games (W3 D5), although all three of those victories came on the road.
Their most recent home outing served up a dramatic reminder of their resilience: Austin trailed San Diego FC 3-0 before battling back to claim a 3-3 draw — the first time in club history they have taken a result in an MLS match (regular season or playoffs) after falling three or more goals behind, having lost all 23 previous such games.
Nashville represent a far sterner proposition. BJ Callaghan's side top the East on 60 points, holding a 14-point cushion over the New England Revolution and Inter Miami in second and third respectively. They have lost just one of their last 10 league games and entered the international break on the back of two straight wins without conceding, against the Chicago Fire and Toronto FC.
'Up for any challenge'
Arnaud was under no illusions about the difficulty of the task, but insisted his squad will give everything.
"Nashville is very good, and we understand that. Listen, there is not an easy game in this league," Arnaud said.
"We say the most important thing is for us to be tough to beat. I think you've seen these guys; they're up for any challenge. I think they've shown that."
Players to watch
Austin FC – Christian Ramirez: Ramirez struck in the 82nd and 86th minutes in the draw with San Diego, and he has now scored five goals in the 80th minute or later this season. That is tied for the most such goals by any MLS player this year and is the most in a single season ever by an Austin player.
Nashville SC – Hany Mukhtar: Mukhtar scored his 100th MLS goal (95 regular season, five playoffs) for Nashville, becoming the first player to reach the mark for the club and the seventh in MLS history to do so with a single team. The next five highest-scoring German players in league history have a combined 97 goals (regular season and playoffs).
Record in sight for Nashville
With seven games left to play, Nashville need 15 points to break the all-time points record for a regular-season campaign, currently held by Inter Miami (74 in 2024).
The two clubs' head-to-head history favours the visitors. Nashville have won three of the five all-time meetings (D1 L1), most recently a 2-1 triumph in last year's U.S. Open Cup Final — one of only two occasions Austin have hosted Nashville, the other a 1-1 league draw in Texas in 2022.
Match prediction
Opta's model makes Nashville favourites for the Q2 Stadium clash:
- Austin FC – 30.3%
- Draw – 24.9%
- Nashville SC – 44.8%