A few things to know about Atlanta United this week:
1. The Five Stripes, the defending MLS champs, will host its first playoff game this season when New England comes to Mercedes-Benz Stadium on Saturday, Oct. 19. Kick off is 1 p.m. It will be televised on Univision and Fox Sports Southeast and on radio on either 92.9FM or 94.1FM. And you can follow me on Twitter @DougRobersonAJC.
2. Atlanta United will host because it finished in second in the Eastern Conference with 58 points, six less than first-place NYCFC. New England finished in seventh with 45 points.
3. Atlanta United won both meetings with the Revs during the regular season. The first was a 2-0 victory in Foxborough, Mass. Both goals were scored by Ezequiel Barco. The second victory was 3-1 in the regular season finale at Mercedes-Benz Stadium. The goals were scored by Darlington Nagbe, Josef Martinez and Julian Gressel.
4. Atlanta United is favored to win by the website fivethirtyeight.com. Atlanta United is 12-2-3 at home in league games this season, and 18-2-3 across all competitions. The 12 wins were tied for second-most in home games in MLS this season. New England went 3-6-8 on the road.
5. Atlanta United appeared to be mostly healthy until centerback Miles Robinson suffered a hamstring strain while with the U.S. men's national team on Friday. A diagnosis hasn't been provided by Atlanta United.
6. Should Atlanta United win, it will host the semifinal game at 7:30 p.m. against either Philadelphia or New York Red Bulls on Oct. 24. NYCFC will host the other semifinal on Oct. 23. The Eastern Conference final is scheduled for Oct. 30. The MLS Cup will be Nov. 10 at the site of the surviving team that finished the regular season with the most points.
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