We hope you enjoyed a peaceful Saturday evening last night, because the Sunday scaries are here. Atlanta United are venturing across the country for a 9 pm kickoff tonight against Denis Bouanga, Son Heung-Min, and the rest of LAFC.
The Five Stripes’ trudge to the end of a forgettable season hasn’t been the smoothest (shocking, I know) after a 2-0 defeat on the road against the also eliminated New England Revolution last weekend placed them firmly back in the race for the coveted Wooden Spoon. Hey, at least there’s something to play for here.
Meanwhile, a 1-1 draw against San Diego the week before showed that despite the circumstances, Atlanta has somewhere within them the ability to hang with some of the top teams in MLS, even if the result is meaningless. At the same time, though, the New England loss showed a recurring lack of resiliance that must have the LAFC attack, which has scored 15 goals through the last four matches, licking their chops.
At this point in the 2026 preseason, and in a match like this, the biggest thing to look for is players proving their worth to the club, especially those on option years. How will members of the Atlanta United squad respond after their manager labeled their efforts as “soft” in the previous match? With jobs on the line, a showing against what should be the league’s most formidable attacking forces next season would do wonders for a player’s status heading into the offseason.
If you’re more interested in how Atlanta can obtain a new piece of undesireable hardware, I have good and bad news. The good: Atlanta United are still alive in the hunt for the Wooden Spoon with only two weeks of the season remaining. The bad: Atlanta’s main competitors here, D.C. United and L.A. Galaxy, both lost their matches yesterday, as have Sporting Kansas City, who sit just above Atlanta in the overall table. A loss seems necessary to stay in the three point gap separating these sides who seem to be really good and not being very good.
Brooks Lennon (achilles tendinitis) and Nyk Sessock (illness) have joined a long list of unavailable players for tonight, with Matt Edwards, Jay Fortune, and Will Reilly remaining out of commission. Luke Brennan is also missing out, but for good reason as the USMNT U-20 team continues to roll in the U-20 World Cup with a matchup this afternoon against South Africa.
Sunday night kickoff in Cali for Atlanta United has a later 9:00 PM ET start this time, with streaming available as usual on Apple TV+ and with your ususal MLS Season Pass subscription. Radio coverage is provided in English on 92.9 The Game and in Spanish on La Mejor.
Atlanta United’s Lineup:
LAFC’s Lineup:
How to Watch:
Venue: BMO Stadium, Los Angeles, California
Kickoff Time: Sunday, October 5th; 9:00 PM ET
Available TV/Streaming: Apple TV+, Apple TV (with MLS Season Pass Subscription)
Available Radio: 92.9 The Game, La Mejor 1600/1460/1130 AM
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We were clearly hoping for a 0-0 draw.
This is just such a poorly constructed roster. We have some glaring weaknesses, but enough talent that we shouldn’t look this bad. The problem is our talented players don’t seem to complement each other, and the result is the whole is much weaker than the sum of its parts. Don’t really know what could make this group work well together. Would prefer taking it down to the studs and building it back up. That includes coach and front office. Start over with everyone on the same page.
In addition to kind of wanting our team to do poorly so that some immediate change happens, Son is also one of my favorite players. I might be cheering on LAFC for this one.
Maybe if they beat us badly enough they’ll finally get a new coach.
I totally get that perspective. I can and never will root against this team. I don’t have high hopes, but would be happy to play for the upset.
I am a Spurs fan so I couldn’t agree more.
What’s the over/under on Son putting up a hat-trick?
Noah Cobb scored a goal for the USMNT U20.
Well done to Noah.