Venue: Nissan Stadium, Nashville, Tennessee
Record (W-L-D), Points, and Last 5 Results
Atlanta: Record (3-5-2) (11 pts) Form – WLDDL
- Nashville SC (H): Won 2-0
- Orlando (A): Lost 3-1
- Inter Miami CF (H): Tied 0-0
- Orlando (A): Tied 1-1
- Inter Miami CF (A): Lost 2-1
Nashville: Record (W-L-D) (Points) Form – LLWDD
- Atlanta United (A): Lost 0-2
- Orlando (A): Lost 3-1
- Inter Miami CF (H): Won 1-0
- Orlando (H): Tied 1-1
- Inter Miami CF (A): Tied 0-0
Possible Absences:
Atlanta:
- Josef Martinez (Injury)
Nashville:
- Jimmy Medranda (Injury)
- Ken Tribbett (Injury)
- Randall Leal (Injury)
Predicted Starting XI:
Atlanta (4-2-3-1)
- Brad Guzan
- George Bello, Anton Walkes, Miles Robinson, Franco Escobar
- Eric Remedi, Jeff Lawrentowicz
- Jurgen Damm, Ezequiel Barco, Brooks Lennon
- Erick “Cubo” Torres
Nashville (4-2-3-1)
- Joe Willis
- Daniel Lovitz, David Romney, Walker Zimmerman, Alistair Johnston
- Anibal Godoy, Dax McCarty
- Alex Muyl, Hany Mukhtar, Randall Leal
- Dominique Badji
Saturday’s game will mark the third time this season that Atlanta United and Nashville face off. Atlanta has struggled as of late with their last win being against Nashville on August 22. Nashville on the other hand haven’t lost in their last three matches, however, two of those were ties. The big news around the club right now is the loan deal of Benfica striker Jhonder Cadiz. It’s unclear if he’ll be able to take part in today’s game but from their recent results and strong defensive performances and the addition of a striker, there’s a new sense of hope in Nashville.
Atlanta have only been able to beat two teams in the MLS this season. One of them was Nashville who they’ve beaten twice. They’ll look to make it three wins out of three against the team in Music City. However, recently sold Pity Martinez was the man to score both goals in their last win against Nashville, meaning it may be a little more difficult this time around. Nashville will look to take advantage of the opportunity to leapfrog Atlanta in the Eastern Conference and do it against a currently struggling team.
With the possibility of dropping below Nashville, this and Atlanta’s upcoming games are continuing to grow in importance. They need to earn some results, and need to do so soon to stay on track, as they’re slowly falling out of the playoff picture. With rumors of a DP replacement for Pity Martinez on the horizon, it would be nice for Atlanta to get results before the new DP and possible new coach come in.
My Prediction: Atlanta win 2-1. I think Atlanta knows this is virtually a must win game in terms of the team’s mindset. Nashville is a team they have gotten two wins against already and would be expected to do so again if their playoff hopes are at all serious. With a new DP or not Atlanta need to start performing. The pandemic season setup has given them some favorable games to start off the season and they haven’t done that well. If they don’t start performing soon, it could get ugly pretty fast and their playoff dream would be just that, a dream.