Doug Roberson predicts which Atlanta United players will be in the starting 11 for Tuesday’s night U.S. Open Cup championship game against Minnesota United at Mercedes-Benz Stadium. The game is at 8 p.m. and will be broadcast on ESPN-plus.
The U.S. Open Cup restricts rosters to just five international players. Because of that rule, manager Frank de Boer said Dion Pereira won’t make the 18. For other reasons, Mikey Ambrose, George Bello and Kevin Kratz also aren’t on the roster, he said on Monday.
If Pereira isn’t, that likely means Atlanta United’s five remaining international players are. They are: Ezequiel Barco, Franco Escobar, Pity Martinez, Flo Pogba and Eric Remedi.
Here we go:
Goalkeeper Brad Guzan
Centerback Leandro Gonzalez Pirez
Centerback Miles Robinson
Centerback Flo Pogba
Right wingback Julian Gressel
Left wingback Justin Meram
Defensive midfielder Jeff Larentowicz
Defensive midfielder Darlington Nagbe
Attacking midfielder Ezequiel Barco
Striker Pity Martinez
Striker Josef Martinez
I think Pogba will get the start over Escobar because he is returning from an injury. I think Villalba will be a sub around the 60th minute. It looks like Meram is going to be asked to go 90, though Escobar could come in as a wingback on either side. He did play left wingback for a few minutes earlier this season.
I think Larentowicz gets the nod over Remedi because Larentowicz played well in the Campeones Cup. Plus, if Nagbe needs to leave the game early, Remedi is a better-suited sub for that spot than Larentowicz.
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