MLS Playoffs Game 3: Atlanta United vs. Columbus info to know

Atlanta United will play Columbus at 7 p.m. Sunday at Lower.com Field in the decisive Game 3 of their MLS playoffs series. The game will be televised by Apple TV. Kickoff will be 7:09 p.m. You can sync the radio broadcast from 92.9 FM through the app. You can also follow Doug Roberson’s coverage on X (formerly known as Twitter) @DougRobersonAJC. Columbus won the first game 2-0 in the best-of-three series.

Columbus manager: Wilfried Nancy

Columbus at home: 12-1-4

Atlanta United on road: 3-6-8

Columbus goals for/against in regular season: 67/46

Columbus expected goals for/against in regular season: 57.7/41.3

Atlanta United goals for/against in regular season: 66/53

Atlanta United expected goals for/against in regular season: 48.7/46

Columbus key players

Cucho: 16 goals, 11 assists; 3 goals in playoffs

Christian Ramirez: Eight goals, four assists

Aiden Morris: Four goals, seven assists

Atlanta United key players

Thiago Almada: 11 goals, 19 assists; 1 goal in playoffs

Giorgos Giakoumakis: 17 goals, two assists; 1 goal, 2 assists in playoffs

Brooks Lennon: Four goals, 10 assists; 1 assist in playoffs

Caleb Wiley: Four goals, four assists; 1 assist in playoffs

Saba Lobjanidze: Three goals, four assists

Recapping this season’s meetings

COLUMBUS 6, ATLANTA UNITED 1: Both teams were without several starters because of a FIFA International window and subsequent national team call-ups when they met at Lower.com Field on March 25. Columbus jumped to a 1-0 lead in the 14th minute. Atlanta United lost hope of winning when the Crew poured in four goals in 21 minutes in the second half. Brooks Lennon scored for Atlanta United.

Lineups

Atlanta United: Guzan; Lennon, Cobb, Purata, Gutman (Wolff 45th minute); Sejdic (Lopez 65th), Sosa (Fortune 73rd), Ibarra; Araujo, Berry (Rossetto 73rd), Wiley

Columbus: Schulte; Moreira, Quinton, Vallecilla (Hughes 89th); Morris, Nagbe (Zawadski 73rd), Sands, Farsi; Ramirez (Yeboah 73rd), Russell-Rowe (Arfsten 82nd), Matan (Parente 89th)

ATLANTA UNITED 1, COLUMBUS 1: Cucho scored in the 65th minute at Mercedes-Benz Stadium on Oct. 7. Miles Robinson scored the tying goal in the seventh minute of stoppage time. The draw ended Atlanta United’s hopes of finishing in the top four in the East.

Lineups

Atlanta United: Guzan; Lennon, Robinson, Abram, Wiley; Rosetto (Fortune 75th minute), Muyumba (Berry 89th), Almada; Silva (Thiare 75th, Etienne Jr. 83rd), Lobjanidze (Mosquera 62nd), Giakoumakis.

Columbus: Schulte; Moreira, Camacho, Cheberko (Farsi 89th); Gressel, Nagbe, Morris, Zawadszki; Rossi (Molino 90+5th), Matan (Ramirez 90+3rd), Cucho

COLUMBUS 2, ATLANTA UNITED 0: Atlanta United set itself up to try to frustrate Columbus. It worked until Cucho broke through in first-half stoppage time to give the Crew a 1-0 lead. Atlanta United’s offense was held to a franchise-low on shot, which it didn’t put on goal. It created just one chance.

Lineups

Atlanta United: Guzan; Lennon, Hernandez (Thiare 60th′), Robinson, Abram, Wiley; Rossetto, Muyumba (Lobjanidze – 46th′), Fortune (Wolff 88th′); Silva (Mosquera 60th′), Giakoumakis (Etienne Jr. 88th′)

Columbus: Schulte; Moreira, Camacho, Amundsen; Yeboah, Morris, Nagbe, Gressel; Matan (Molino – 87th′), Cucho, Rossi (Zawadzki – 88th′)

ATLANTA UNITED 4, COLUMBUS 2: Giakoumakis scored one goal and had two assists to lead Atlanta United in Game 2 of the playoff series. Almada was back in the lineup and scored one goal and occupied Columbus’ midfielders throughout.

Lineups

Atlanta United: Guzan; Lennon, Robinson, Abram, Wiley; Rossetto (Fortune 57th′), Muyumba, Almada (Purata 90th+3′); Silva (Mosquera 80th′), Lobjanidze (Wolff 80th′), Giakoumakis (Thiare 90th+3′).

Columbus: Schulte; Moreira, Camacho, Zawadzki (Yeboah 64th′); Amundsen, Morris (Ramirez 80th′), Nagbe, Gressel (Farsi 80th′); Matan (Arfsten 90th+1), Cucho (Russel-Rowe 90th+1′), Rossi

Talking points

1. How will Pineda set up the team? Attack, attack, attack. Atlanta United has nothing to lose.

2. Can team overcome past? Atlanta United has been outscored 8-1 and limited to three shots in two matches at Lower.com Field this season.

Officiating crew

REF: Armando Villarreal

AR1: Corey Parker

AR2: Jose Da Silva

4TH: Tori Penso

VAR: Daniel Radford

AVAR: Jonathan Johnson

Injury reports

Atlanta United

Out: Machop Chol (hamstring).

Questionable: Matheus Rossetto (calf).

Columbus

Out: Will Sands (knee).

What was said

“No pressure, no pressure. Like, for me, it’s just more motivation, right? There is stress, there’s anxiety as well. How you describe pressure, like pressure is trying to be in a single mother trying to feed your kids without a job. That’s pressure.” – Pineda

“I don’t think there are many surprises at this point. Not just between us two but, in general, in the league. Most of the teams are consistent with what we have been doing throughout the whole season or at the end, at least the last part of the season. So I don’t think there are many surprises there. You can tweak little things. But I wouldn’t call that surprise.” – Pineda

“I think that’s our attacking is one of our big objectives. On this team, we love to attack. And then the defensive part is something that we’re always looking to work to get better on. But definitely, we’re not scared to go there on Sunday.” – Caleb Wiley

Atlanta United’s predicted 11

Goalkeeper Brad Guzan

Centerback Luis Abram

Centerback Miles Robinson

Right fullback Brooks Lennon

Left fullback Caleb Wiley

Midfielder Jay Fortune

Midfielder Tristan Muyumba

Attacking midfielder Thiago Almada

Winger Saba Lobjanidze

Winger Xande Silva

Striker Giorgos Giakoumakis

For more content about Atlanta United

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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