Who will start for Atlanta United (12-8-6) in Saturday's game against Orlando City (9-12-7) at Mercedes-Benz Stadium?
Manager Gerardo Martino said hinted that Jeff Larentowicz will likely move from defensive midfielder to centerback in place of Leandro Gonzalez Pirez, who is suspended for a game because of yellow card accumulation.
Because the Five Stripes jumped out to a 4-0 lead at halftime of what would become a 7-0 win against New England, Hector Villalba, Josef Martinez and Miguel Almiron didn’t have to do a lot of running in the second half.
Here’s who I think will start:
The goalkeeper will be Brad Guzan.
The fullbacks be Anton Walkes and Mikey Ambrose in place of Greg Garza, who left Wednesday’s game with a muscle injury. The centerhalves will be Michael Parkhurst and Larentowicz, who must slow down Cyle Larin and Dom Dwyer.
The holding midfielders will be Carlos Carmona and Julian Gressel.
The attacking midfielder will be Almiron.
The wide midfielders will be Jacob Peterson and Brandon Vazquez, giving Yamil Asad and Villalba short rests.
The striker will be Martinez, who scored three goals in the first half against the Revs. Martinez has 13 goals scored in 13 games.
The team is in fifth place in the Eastern Conference. This will be the third of six consecutive home games.
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