Venue: Audi Field
Record (W-L-D), Points, and Last 5 Results
Atlanta: Record (4-8-2) (14 pts) Form – LLLWL
- Inter Miami CF (A): Lost 2-1
- Nashville SC (A): Lost 4-2
- Inter Miami CF (H): Lost 2-1
- FC Dallas (A): Won 1-0
- Chicago Fire (A): Lost 2-0
DC United: Record (2-7-5) (11 pts) Form DLDLL
- NYCFC (H): Tied 1-1
- New York Red Bulls (H): Lost 2-0
- Toronto (H): Tied 2-2
- Nashville (A): Lost 1-0
- New England (H): Lost New England
Possible Absences (Off of MLS Injury Report):
Atlanta:
- Josef Martínez (Torn ACL)
- Erick Torres (Knee Sprain)
DC United:
- Paul Arriola (Torn ACL
- Edison Flores (eye injury)
- Felipe (Torn ACL)
- Mohammed Abu (knee injury)
- Ulises Segura (not medically cleared)
- Kevin Paredes (not medically cleared)
Predicted Starting XI:
Atlanta (4-3-3)
- Brad Guzan
- Brooks Lennon, Franco Esscobar, Fernando Meza, George Bello
- Eric Remedi, Jeff Larentowicz, Emerson Hyndman
- Jake Mulraney, Adam Jahn, Jon Gallagher
DC United (4-4-2)
- Bill Hamid
- Oniel Fisher, Fredric Brilliant, Steven Birnbaum, Joseph Mora
- Julian Gressel, Russell Canouse, Junior Moreno, Yamil Asad
- Gelmin Rivas, Ola Kamara
Believe it or not, Atlanta United face a team in DC United that are actually below them in the standings. DC are a team that similarly to Atlanta haven’t met expectations this year. This is expected to be the first time Julian Gressel will play against his old club, while Yamil Asad is expected to play against his old team as well.
Atlanta had a strong performance against FC Dallas that seemed to possibly be a turning point, but a disappointing performance and result against Chicago has cast some doubt on those thoughts. With Atlanta struggling, there isn’t a much better team to play than the team that sits last in all of MLS. However, if they fail to get a result it could have a rather large negative affect on the feeling around the club. And with the feeling already pretty negative, it might be an affect the club can’t afford to take on.
Stephen Glass said midweek that three out of the four players in Miles Robinson, Ezequiel Barco, Jurgen Damm, and Matheus Rossetto would be available, but he wouldn’t say who. The injury report said otherwise with none of those names on it. So, like it has been all season, we’ll have to wait to see who’s available and who isn’t. My lineup is a cautious one, but if any of those players are healthy, I would think they would be in the starting lineup. Unless Glass wants to ease them in from the subs bench.
No matter who plays, if Atlanta want to be in the playoffs this season, the games are starting to become must win. And with this game coming against the statistically proven worst team in MLS, a team looking to make the playoffs shouldn’t be thinking about anything but winning. If they truly think they can make playoffs they should go out thinking and knowing they’re the better team and then show it on the pitch.
My Prediction: Atlanta 1 – 1 DC United. I’m just not sold on Atlanta at the moment. I’m not sure if any of the four “injured” players will play. If they do, maybe it’s a different story than a draw. But even then, I’m not sure about this team in general. There’s something wrong that seemed to be fixed a little bit with the Dallas game, but then came back to haunt Atlanta against Chicago. Fans and the team alike will be hoping for a performance like the Dallas game. If that happens, given the bottom of the standings opponent, they should be able to come away with a win.
The Possible Absences and Starting XI portions of the article will be updated as necessary up until starting lineups are announced