Venue: Mercedes-Benz Stadium
Record (W-L-D), Points, and Last 5 Results
Atlanta United: Record (5-2-8) (17 pts) Form – LLWLW
- 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 (A): Won 4-0
Orlando City: Record (8-5-2) (29 pts) Form – WWWDW
- Inter Miami CF (H): Won 2-1
- Chicago Fire (H): Won 4-1
- Sporting KC (A): Won 2-1
- FC Dallas (A): Tied 1-1
- New York Red Bulls (H): Won 3-1
Possible Absences (Based off of official MLS Injury Report):
Atlanta United:
- Josef Martinez (Torn ACL)
- Erick Torres (Knee Sprain)
- Matheus Rossetto (not medically cleared)
Orlando City:
- Dom Dwyer (knee injury)
- Joao Moutinho (groin injury)
- Oriol Rosell (not medically cleared)
- Tesho Akindele (not medically cleared)
- Mauricio Pereyra (not medically cleared)
Predicted Starting XI:
Atlanta United (4-3-3)
- Brad Guzan
- Franco Escobar, Miles Robinson, Fernando Meza, George Bello
- Emerson Hyndman, Jeff Larentowicz, Mo Adams
- Brooks Lennon, Adam Jahn, Jon Gallagher
Orlando City (4-2-3-1)
- Brian Rowe
- Kyle Smith, R. Schlegel, Robin Jansson, Kamal Miller
- Andres Perea, Junior Urso
- Chris Mueller, Mauricio Pereyra, Nani
- Daryl Dike
With the MLS schedule the way that it is, this is the third meeting between Atlanta United and their so called “rivals” Orlando City SC. So far this season they’ve yet to come away with a win. Orlando won one and the other ended in a tie after a late Adam Jahn header.
Coming into the game both teams are arguably on a high. Orlando are on a 9-game undefeated streak, while Atlanta are coming off of a 4-0 win albeit against a very struggling DC United. Going into the game Orlando are undoubtedly expected to win.
When you look at the lineups, Chris Mueller has been one of the stars of the MLS, Daryl Dike has continued being a strong and effective striker after his Virginia days, and Nani is the star Orlando have been waiting for. For Atlanta, they haven’t had a Designated Player for a while now. The availability of Ezequiel Barco is still up in the air with a day-to-day turning into a couple of weeks, and new DP Marcelino Moreno won’t play until next game against the Red Bulls at the earliest. They did play really well last game, but it was against a struggling DC United that are so bad right now, they subbed on a player that wasn’t on the roster and also got a late red card. If you can’t beat a team that doesn’t know who’s on their gameday roster, you might as well give up. Atlanta battered them 4-0, so they passed that test.
However, Orlando have been really good this season, which is probably hard for Atlanta United fans to take as up until this season they hadn’t lost to their rivals once. And while fans have probably tried to deny Orlando’s strong play this year, there is no denying it now. This team is on fire. And because of that it’s going to be difficult for Atlanta to win even with Orlando’s star goalie Pedro ‘the octopus” Gallese missing out because of international duty.
My Prediction: Atlanta United 1 – 2 Orlando. I just don’t think Atlanta can stop this Orlando team, even coming off of some positive performances. If Barco plays maybe it’s a little different but I’m not sold on him making that big of a difference. It’s possible I’m going cautious with a 2-1 loss. But we’ll have to wait and see if Glass and Atlanta can build off of their DC United win and possibly make that a turning point on their season.
The Possible Absences and Starting XI portions of the article will be updated as necessary up until starting lineups are announced