It’s in the title, folks. Every week during the MLS season, Backheeled is here to dive into the biggest Winners and Losers from around the league. Let’s get right to it!
Winner: Nashville SC’s new-look attack (and their Supporters’ Shield credentials)
Arguably the biggest game of the MLS regular season went down on Saturday, when Nashville SC welcomed Inter Miami to Geodis Park in a clash of one versus two in the Supporters’ Shield race. The result? Well, it was pretty emphatic.
It's a party in Nashville 🥳@NashvilleSC beats Miami 4-1 to keep the top spot in the Supporters' Shield standings. pic.twitter.com/Bw9arBRqL7
— Major League Soccer (@MLS) August 16, 2026
Nashville cruised to a 4-1 win, absolutely shredding Miami’s backline. The ‘Yotes were every bit as good as their four goals.
And, yeah, we need to have a conversation about Elias Saad. Nashville’s attack wasn’t exactly struggling going into the summer transfer window, with 32 goals from 14 games before the World Cup break. They went out and added Saad, who played in the 2026 World Cup for Tunisia and has a fascinating profile dynamic dribbler, going back to his emergence in the German futsal game. On paper, adding a TAM-level attacker to the already deadly trio of Hany Mukhtar, Sam Surridge, and Cristian Espinoza felt almost like overkill.
On Saturday, the four attackers got on the field together for the first time and proved to be nightmare fuel for Miami’s backline. Saad, in particular, was stellar. Playing down the left flank and showing a near telepathic connection with Mukhtar and Reed Baker-Whiting, he touched the ball a whopping 11 times in Miami’s penalty area, created five chances, completed seven progressive carries, and bagged two assists. It was bad enough that head coach Guillermo Hoyos hauled right-back Facundo Mura off after a torrid 33 minutes of getting absolutely cooked.
We’ve talked before about how dominant Nashville’s right side is, and it was absolutely dominant again on Saturday; Andy Nájar scored the opener and Cristian Espinoza nabbed an assist. But adding Saad to the mix has balanced their attack, with equal threat now coming from the left flank.
