Atlanta United (6-4-5) will face the New England Revolution (7-3-4) at 7:25 p.m. Wednesday at Mercedes-Benz Stadium. The game will be broadcast on FS1 and is free on Apple TV. You can sync the radio broadcast from 92.9 FM through the app.
Here is a scouting report for the game:
New England manager: Bruce Arena
New England on road: 3-3-1
Atlanta United at home: 5-1-1
New England goals for/against: 22/17
New England expected goals for/against: 22.5/18.2
Atlanta United goals for/against: 29/25
Atlanta United expected goals for/against: 22.5/18.5
New England key players
Bobby Wood: Four goals, three assists
Carles Gil: three goals, five assists
Giacomo Vrioni: three goals
Atlanta United key players
Thiago Almada: Six goals, eight assists
Giorgos Giakoumakis: Eight goals
Brooks Lennon: One goal, six assists
Talking points
Will the Five Stripes continue home success? Atlanta United has been underwhelming on the road (1-3-4) , but it has overcome that in part with great home success (5-1-1). Atlanta United has lost three of its past four against New England, which leads it by two points in the standings.
Guzan returns home. Fans should give a strong applause for Brad Guzan, the veteran goalkeeper who returned far earlier than expected from a torn MCL in his left knee. Guzan was expected to miss 10-to-12 weeks; he returned in seven, starting Saturday only 49 days after sustaining the injury.
Where’s the early urgency? Atlanta United manager Gonzalo Pineda didn’t think his club found a rhythm until around the 60-minute mark Saturday. The team has been much better at home from an urgency standpoint, so he’s hoping for a stronger start Wednesday.
Injury reports
Atlanta United
Out: Amar Sejdic (calf), Erik Lopez (ankle), Ozzie Alonso (ACL recovery) and Caleb Wiley (international duty).
New England
Questionable: Gustavo Bou (leg)
Out: Dylan Borrero (knee), Brandon Bye (shoulder), Nacho Gil (leg), Henry Kessler (hamstring) Maciel (Achilles) Tommy McNamara (leg) and Damian Rivera (international duty).
What was said
“At home, we’ve been much better compared to when we play away. That, again, is something that we’re talking a lot with the players about why we change that much, home versus away. It’s normal that you change a little bit, but why the difference has to be that big. Something to correct. But now we have a game at home, and I hope and feel like we’ll have that sense of urgency from the beginning, and I hope we’ll have a good game.” – Pineda
“They’re (New England) a great team. You can see the players they have, week in and week out on the pitch, are MLS veterans. A lot of guys that have a lot of experience. They’ve had a lot of good results this year, so we’re ready, and we need to get a result at home.” – Lennon
“He’s been great. Tyler (Wolff) is a young kid (20), and he always has the right mentality in training. He works his tail off so that he gets opportunities in games. I always tell him, whether it’s one minute or 90 minutes, no matter how long you’re going to play in a game – and this goes for everyone on the team – you give everything for the badge. He’s been doing that.” – Lennon on Wolff, who has scored two goals in his past two matches across only 19 minutes
Officiating crew
Referee: Rubiel Vazquez
Assistants: Cory Richardson, Eduardo Jeff
4th Official: Sergii Demianchuk
VAR: Younes Marrakchi
AVAR: Tom Supple
Atlanta United’s predicted 11
Goalkeeper Brad Guzan
Centerback Miles Robinson
Centerback JuanJo Purata
Right fullback Brooks Lennon
Left fullback Andrew Gutman
Defensive midfielder Franco Ibarra
Midfielder Santiago Sosa
Attacking midfielder Thiago Almada
Right wing Luiz Araujo
Left wing Derrick Etienne Jr.
Striker Giorgos Giakoumakis
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Atlanta United’s 2023 MLS schedule
Feb. 25 Atlanta United 2, San Jose Earthquakes 1
March 4 Atlanta United 1, Toronto FC 1
March 11 Atlanta United 3, Charlotte FC 0
March 18 Atlanta United 5, Portland 1
March 25 Columbus 6, Atlanta United 1
April 1 Atlanta United 1, New York Red Bulls 0
April 8 Atlanta United 1, New York City FC 1
April 15 Atlanta United 2, Toronto FC 2
April 23 Atlanta United 2, Chicago 1
April 29 Nashville SC 3, Atlanta United 1
May 6 Inter Miami CF 2, Atlanta United 1
May 13 Charlotte 3, Atlanta United 1
May 17 Atlanta United 4, Colorado 0
May 20 Atlanta United 3, Chicago 3
May 27 Atlanta United 1, Orlando City 1
May 31 vs. New England Revolution, 7 p.m., FS1
June 7 or Sept. 13 at Los Angeles FC, 10:30 p.m.
June 10 vs. D.C. United, 7:30 p.m.
June 21 vs. New York City FC, 7:30 p.m.
June 24 at New York Red Bulls, 7:30 p.m.
July 2 vs. Philadelphia Union, 4 p.m., Fox
July 8 at CF Montreal, 7:30 p.m.
July 12 at New England Revolution, 7:30 p.m.
July 15 vs. Orlando City SC, 7:30 p.m., FS1
Aug. 20 at Seattle Sounders, 10:30 p.m.
Aug. 26 vs. Nashville SC, 7:30 p.m.
Aug. 30 vs. FC Cincinnati, 7:30 p.m.
Sept. 2 at FC Dallas, 8:30 p.m.
Sept. 16 vs. Inter Miami CF, 7:30 p.m.
Sept. 20 at D.C. United, 7:30 p.m.
Sept. 23 vs. CF Montreal, 7:30 p.m.
Oct. 4 at Philadelphia Union, 7:30 p.m.
Oct. 7 vs. Columbus Crew, 7:30 p.m.
Oct. 21 at FC Cincinnati, TBA
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