Nashville SC -Head Coach BJ Callaghan expressed his wish to win trophies with the club this season after booking their place in the US Open Cup final in midweek.
Nashville defeated Eastern Conference leaders Philadelphia Union 3-1, led by the hat trick of Sam Surridge, and focused a meeting with Austin FC in the showpiece competition on 1 October.
The Coyotes are at a moving distance from a first large trophy, which came close to the Leagues Cup title in 2023, but lost to Inter Miami in the final.
The US Open Cup champion deserves a berth in the Concacaf Champions Cup 2026 and Callaghan wants to deliver next month.
“They are so committed to each other,” said Callaghan. “They are dedicated to everything they talked about they want to reach.
“This season helped us to be tested through the battle. It’s just a great achievement to make that obstacle to the final.”
But before that date with Destiny, Nashville is in MLS promotion this weekend, which means that the trip to Inter & Co Stadium takes on the hopeful Playoff -Hoopful Orlando City SC.
Nashville can secure their place in the late season with a victory like the New York Red Bulls points to CF Montreal, and Surridge believes that their midweek victory has given the team confidence.
“It’s great because we still have many boys from that complete cup final who have been there and have experienced it,” Surridge said. “We can take that to the open cup.
“It’s great for the club, but our next step is to win trophies. That’s what we want to do this season. We are in a final, but we also want to do well in the competition.
“We have a bit of a sticky patch, but a game like Philadelphia will almost certainly give us a lot of confidence.”
See you in the @OpendCup End, @Austinfc pic.twitter.com/korx8niwq4
– Nashville SC (@Nashvillesc) September 18, 2025
Orlando has meanwhile gone out of the top seven in the Eastern Conference after he has not won their last two league games, the last she saw drawing with DC United.
It was a dominant representation of the Oscar Pareja team, which generated a total of 1.6 of their 25 shots in an expected goals (XG), while he also played the last 30 minutes with a man’s advantage after the red card of Lukas Macnaaughton.
While the Orlando boss was satisfied with the display, for his part, he regretted the inability to find a clinical lead in the last third part, something he emphasized, would be necessary against Nashville.
“We have reasons to feel frustrated tonight because they did not win the game and had the three points,” said Pareja. “Especially after we have tied the game and we still have a player.
“That feeling is there. But at the same time I want to acknowledge that from the first minute I thought Orlando should also evaluate the pace and pace of the game and the majority of the options and many of the games we could have scored.
“And this frustration is part of the game. We have to brush again in the last third part and be the team that we are when we make the options and score and that is what you do win games.
“But apart from that, I thought that the behavior of the boys tactically and the general game, it was the way you saw it all, very dominant for Orlando.”
Players to watch
Orlando City – Alexander Freeman
Freeman scored his fifth goal of the MLS season in Orlando’s Road Draw with DC United, and he will be out to increase his competitions here.
Freeman is indeed the fifth city player with five or more competition goals this season, the second most like players by each MLS team in 2025 (Charlotte FC with six).
Nashville – Sam Surridge
Surridge expanded his golden boot lead over Miami’s Lionel Messi with his 21st goal of the regular season previous time-out and now leads the eight times Ballon d’Or winner with one.
He is the second English player who scores more than 20 goals in an MLS season and joined Bradley Wright-Phillips, who did this in both 2014 (27) and 2016 (24).
Match forecast: Orlando City Win
The 5-1 home victory of Nashville on Orlando Last month was the biggest victory margin on both sides in the 16 all-time matches in all matches between the clubs. Those five goals were also equal to the goal well of the Coyotes of the previous seven meetings.
But the Callaghan team comes in the game in addition to a defeat against Cincinnati, the fifth defeat of the club in their last six MLS matches (W1). Prior to the current wingspan, Nashville had only five league losses in 24 games (W14 D5) this season.
Orlando, meanwhile, is at home in a four-match winning streak at home in all competitions and scored 15 goals during that run. The 15 goals are most in a wingspan of four home games (all games) in the MLS era of the club.
Opta wins probability
Orlando City – 54.7%
Drawing – 23.3%
Nashville – 22%
#Orlando #City #Nashville #Callaghan #committed #winning #silverware #football #news