Charlotte relishing “great challenge” against No. 1 Nashville
With a run of three wins from four, Dean Smith’s team are looking like genuine contenders in the East.
Now in his third season with Charlotte FC, head coach Dean Smith is relishing the challenge as his side looks to compete for silverware in a stacked Eastern Conference. Six games into the new season Charlotte sit third in the East, level on points with preseason favorites Inter Miami.
With three wins from their last four games, Charlotte are one of the early pace-setters and they take on first-place Nashville SC in a massive game on Saturday night. Charlotte’s form in 2025 was patchy, with long winless runs followed by impressive winning streaks. The challenge this season will be to maintain a high level across the year and, speaking to AS USA this week, Smith said that he likes what he has seen so far.
“I think we’ve created a number of opportunities, and we haven’t given too many big ones away. That’s always a big sign for me, in terms of how we’re doing performance-wise.” He added that the individual players have raised their levels and the team is “looking better” as a result.
Charlotte’s home stretch ends
Saturday’s visit of Nashville is a fifth consecutive home game for Charlotte, who typically thrive in front of supporters at Bank of America Stadium. What follows is a run of four road games, with trips to high-flying New York City FC and the return fixture against Nashville in the schedule.
Speaking on Thursday, Smith admitted that dealing with the long road trips is a key target for the season: “It’s certainly more difficult to play on the road over here. It’s a massive country, the distances are huge, and we have to fly to every away game.”
After Saturday’s game, Charlotte’s next home game will be the visit of FC Cincinnati on May 9, a long stretch of travelling for the team. But Smith is adamant that the team’s performance level must not drop: “Our goal, once this five-game run at home is over, is to go and start winning on the road.”
The Nashville game is an opportunity for Charlotte to put down a marker against one of the league’s top teams, the winner of the 2025 US Open Cup. Last year’s offensive duo of Hany Mukhtar and Sam Surridge has been strengthened by the arrival of two-time All-Star Cristian Espinoza.
Speaking ahead of the game Charlotte goalkeeper Kristijan Kahlina paid tribute to that Nashville trio but insisted that he is relishing the opportunity to face of the league’s best strike forces. “I need to be ready for anything because they can see even the smalls gaps if you are not in position,” Kahlina explained. “They have three really good players, all guaranteed ten-plus goals per season. It’ll be a great challenge for us.”
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