Venue: Mercedes-Benz Stadium
Record (W-L-D), Points, and Last 5 Results
Atlanta United: Record (3-7-2) (11 pts) Form – LLLDD
- Inter Miami CF (H): Tied 0-0
- Orlando City (A): Tied 1-1
- Inter Miami CF (A): Lost 2-1
- Nashville SC (A): Lost 4-2
- Inter Miami CF (H): Lost 2-1
FC Dallas: Record (5-2-4) (19 pts) Form – WWWLD
- Sporting KC (A): Tied 1-1
- Minnesota United (A): Lost 3-2
- Houston Dynamo (H): Won 2-1
- Colorado (H): Won 4-1
- Sporting KC (A): Won 3-2
Possible Absences:
Atlanta United:
- Josef Martinez (Injury)
- Cubo Torres (Injury)
- Jurgen Damm (Injury)
- Ezequiel Barco (Injury)
FC Dallas:
- Paxton Pomykal (Injury)
Predicted Starting XI:
Atlanta United (4-1-4-1)
- Brad Guzan
- Franco Escobar, Fernando Meza, Miles Robinson, George Bello
- Jeff Larentowicz, Eric Remedi, Matheus Rossetto
- Brooks Lennon, Adam Jahn, Jon Gallagher
FC Dallas (4-2-3-1)
- Jimmy Maurer
- Bryan Reynolds, Matt Hedges, Rito Ziegler, Ryan Hollingshed
- Thiago Santos, Tanner Tessman
- Michael Barrios, Andres Ricuarte, Harold Mosquera
- Franco Daniel Jara
Atlanta United’s game against FC Dallas is in a lot of ways a breath of fresh air. They finally play someone other than Miami, Orlando, and Nashville. However, it also has a good possibility of being even worse than the recent games against those three teams. FC Dallas are one of the hottest teams in MLS coming off of three straight wins. The team is 3rd in the Western Conference. This couldn’t be any different than Atlanta United who haven’t won in their last six games.
The big news coming out of Atlanta United is new Designated Player, Marcelino Moreno. The player comes from Lanus in Argentina which is the same team Atlanta signed Miguel Almiron from. However, he isn’t expected to play for 2-3 weeks so it won’t be any help in the short term. Technical director Carlos Bocanegra has also said they are actively looking for a new permanent manager. He says it’s a really important decision to them and they want to make sure they get it right.
Dallas should prove to be a really tough test. It could go one of two ways. Either Atlanta lose another game and their hopes of playoffs continue to get smaller, or they finally play well and pull off the upset. If they do somehow pull off the upset, it would be a statement win that they hope will be the start of a comeback. As of right now, somehow the team isn’t that far from a playoff spot. So, the season definitely isn’t over. But the team needs to get some results soon before all hope is lost, and the players stop caring. If their attack can play more like the exciting first half against Miami, instead of the uninventive second half, they could have a chance. This team still has the talent to make the playoffs, they just have to play at the level their talent suggests. Maybe they start that trend against Dallas.
My Prediction: Atlanta 1 – 3 Dallas. While they could start a trend against Dallas, nothing points towards that happening. This team is struggling, and the task of stopping a 6-game winless streak becomes even harder when it comes against a team on a 3-game win streak.
The Possible Absences and Starting XI portions of the article will be updated as necessary up until starting lineups are announced