Nashville SC returns to GEODIS Park on Saturday night with the Eastern Conference lead in hand and a chance to widen it against D.C. United. The Boys in Gold have 23 points through 10 games, four more than second-place New England, and can open the gap further by beating fifth-placed D.C.
Alex Muyl has made this matchup a habit. The Nashville winger has been with the club since its inaugural season, logged more than 1,000 minutes in 2020, cleared 1,500 in 2021 and has topped 2,000 minutes in every season since. He also has five of his 12 league goals for Nashville against D.C. United, including braces in August 2021 and October 2024.
The numbers help explain why Nashville looks so comfortable at the top early in the MLS season. All members of its forward line have scored this year, and the club enters a home match that could push it farther clear of the pack. D.C., though, is not arriving quietly. It is on a four-game unbeaten run and has moved into fifth while showing signs of being one of the league's most improved sides.
Tai Baribo is the newest name Nashville has to track. He moved from Philadelphia to D.C. United over the winter, joined Louis Munteanu as one of the club's Designated Players and has six goals in eight appearances, all starts. Baribo scored the lone goal in D.C.'s opening-day win against Philadelphia and followed that with a hat trick last weekend against Red Bull New York, but he has never scored against Nashville in six previous meetings in all competitions and lost all three games he played against it in 2025.
Nashville has already made clear it expects another tough night from its old rival and Muyl's history suggests why. The club's own post framed the opportunity plainly: a win would extend the lead and another Muyl goal would fit a pattern that has made D.C. one of his favorite opponents. Saturday will show whether that history holds or whether Baribo turns a dangerous run into a new problem for the East leaders.
