New England Revolution v Nashville SC: Callaghan relishing Eastern Conference 'battle'

B.J. Callaghan feels Nashville SC's upcoming MLS fixture with the New England Revolution will be a "traditional Eastern Conference battle" as they look to continue their fine form. 

Nashville extended their unbeaten streak across all competitions to 11 games with a 2-0 victory over the Chicago Fire last time out. 

The Coyotes sit third in the Eastern Conference standings after 18 games of the season, five points adrift of leaders Philadelphia Union. 

Callaghan's team are preparing for a pivotal few fixtures across the next couple of weeks, with three of their next five games coming against sides currently in the top six. 

"It's been sort of a stop-start June for us," Callaghan said.

"We had a little break, then played, and then had more of a break, but it's given us an opportunity to focus on ourselves and continue to learn. 

"We took some of those learning lessons against Chicago and had a little bit more extended time to focus on ourselves and our preparation for a busy period, starting with New England. 

"The best compliment I can give New England is that they are a difficult team to play against, both with and without the ball. They have some attacking players that can hurt you and they are stingy on the defensive side. 

"We need to find ways to create goalscoring chances. Going to New England is always a difficult place to play.

"In addition to them being a well-coached team, they are difficult to play against. We expect it to be a traditional Eastern Conference battle. But the guys are up for the challenge."

Nashville travel to the Gillette Stadium to face a New England side keen to build another unbeaten streak of their own after defeat to FC Cincinnati last time out. 

Kevin Denkey scored the only goal for Cincinnati, handing the Revolution their first defeat since April 5, when they were also beaten by Pat Noonan's side. 

New England are looking to improve on a 14th-placed finish last term and sit 11th in the Eastern Conference, with defender Tanner Beason confident about their prospects.

"We've made a lot of progress from day one of pre-season to now. It obviously is a team with a lot of new faces and new people on the team, so we had a period of time when the group was trying to gel and come together," Beason said.

"That's been a process, but we've been finding our form from a team perspective, so we want to continue that. It took a bit of time to build, so now we need to approach the rest of the season with an attitude that we can win and start to put more points on the table."

The Revs sit just two points back of the playoff places and nine points adrift of third-place Nashville, with youngster Peyton Miller insisting they are gunning for the postseason.

"We're on a good run. We just have to keep working hard day in and day out," Miller added. "We have to make playoffs."

PLAYERS TO WATCH

NE Revolution – Carles Gil

Despite failing to find the back of the net for the Revolution since a 3-3 draw with Orlando City SC on May 11, Gil has played a crucial role in New England's recent good form. 

Though that came to an end against Cincinnati, the Spaniard ended that game with team-high totals for shots (three), touches (97) and passes in the final third (45). 

Nashville – Sam Surridge

Surridge is Nashville's top scorer this season with 12 goals in 18 MLS appearances, six of which have come in his last four games in the competition. 

The striker, along with Hany Mukhtar, scored Nashville's two goals in their win over the Fire. The pair have scored in the same game four times this season, the most of any MLS team-mate duo in 2025.

Surridge also has a good record against the Revolution. He has two goals in his four outings against them in the MLS, only scoring more against CF Montreal (three), Toronto FC (four) and Chicago (seven). 

MATCH PREDICTION: DRAW

Nashville's unbeaten league streak sits at nine games (W5 D4) after a 2-0 victory over Chicago.

Their club-record unbeaten run is a 10-match streak from between April and June 2023, while the Coyotes' four straight matches with multiple goals is tied for the longest such streak in their club history (twice prior).

But the Revolution are yet to concede a goal at home to Nashville as they have two 1-0 wins and two goalless draws in their four all-time meetings in New England. They have also never had five straight home regular-season shutouts against a single opponent.

New England did, however, see their own nine-game unbeaten streak come to an end with a 1-0 loss to Cincinnati. The Revs' 64.7% possession in the defeat was their highest in any match in 2025.

OPTA WIN PROBABILITY

NE Revolution – 39%

Draw – 26.5.%

Nashville – 34.5%