Unbeaten in their last three matches, Atlanta United will welcome New England Revolution to the Mercedes-Benz Stadium in round eight of the 2025 MLS season.
While the home side seem to have picked up the pace in recent weeks following a rough start, the visitors are on a downward spiral, having lost four of their last five matches.
Match preview
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One week on from emerging 4-3 victors over New York City in arguably the game of the season so far, Atlanta United had to make do with a share of the spoils from their meeting against FC Dallas on Saturday.
On target for the second straight game since returning to the club, Miguel Almiron handed Ronny Deila's men a narrow advantage from the penalty spot, after which Petar Musa levelled matters right on the hour mark.
Since picking up just four points from the first possible 12, the Five Stripes have now managed five points from their last three outings and sit 10th in the Eastern Conference standings, one point behind Nashville, who currently hold the last play-in spot.
With their seven matches this term producing a league-high 23 goals combined, games involving Atlanta United have been a guaranteed source of entertainment, largely due to their porous defensive unit that has been breached 12 times already, second only to Toronto FC.
Given recent meetings between Saturday's opponents, you would not put it past their upcoming meeting yielding a goal fest off the back of 26 goals across the most recent seven editions dating back to May 2022.
This weekend's encounter rounds off a three-game homestretch for the hosts, after which consecutive clashes against Philadelphia Union and then Orlando City on the road await to close out the month of April.
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Having suffered defeat in each of their final four outings of last season, the handwriting was clearly on the wall for New England Revolution, and their start to the current campaign is barely a surprise to anyone who has been paying attention.
Caleb Porter's men battled hard to secure a goalless stalemate against Nashville in this season's curtain-raiser before suffering three straight defeats against Columbus Crew, Philadelphia Union and New York City, after which they finally picked up a first win against New York Red Bulls.
However, any optimism from the Revs' 2-1 triumph over the Bulls was soon zapped by a 1-0 loss to Cincinnati in Sunday's meeting at TQL Stadium, where Sergio Santos found the back of the net within seven minutes of coming on as a second-half substitute.
Albeit with a game in hand, New England are bottom but two in the East standings, and while only two teams have conceded fewer goals this term, their tally of three goals scored currently ranks bottom in the entire division.
More worryingly for Saturday's visitors, they have found the back of the net just once in their most recent four away matches against Major League Soccer opponents leading up to this weekend's journey to Georgia.
Team News
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Atlanta United's Edwin Mosquera has missed five straight games due to an ankle problem and is not expected to play any part in Saturday's game either.
Derrick Williams (hamstring) and Pedro Amador (muscle) are also guaranteed absentees this weekend, although the latter is drawing increasingly closer to a return to action.
Miguel Almiron has directly contributed to a goal in each of his last three games for club and country, making the Paraguay international one to keep an eye on.
Twenty-four-year-old Leonardo Campana is unavailable for New England Revolution because of a hamstring problem that has ruled him out of action since the second week of March.
Wyatt Omsberg is also out of contention for the away side alongside fellow defender Andrew Farrell, who is still awaiting a first appearance of the season.
Atlanta United possible starting lineup:
Guzan; Edwards, Abram, Gregersen, Lennon; Muyumba, Almiron, Slisz; Lobjanidze, Lath, Silva
New England Revolution possible starting lineup:
Ivacic; Miller, Fofana, Ceballos, Feingold; Yusuf, Polster; Ganago, Gil, Langoni; Urruti
We say: Atlanta United 3-1 New England Revolution
Atlanta United have had little problem getting themselves on the scoresheet, and we expect them to put on another impressive attacking display en route to a comfortable win at the end of the 90 minutes here.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
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