It’s the type of match you circle when the calendar comes out. A rivalry match on the road. Atlanta United heads into a hostile environment against their oldest and fiercest of rivals. Now… what happens when we do it twice in four days?
The social experiment begins tonight down in Orlando as the Five Stripes hit the road to see out the remainder of their pre-World Cup schedule, which sees Atlanta play Orlando City not once, but twice in all competitions this week: MLS regular season play tonight, then an encore on Tuesday in the U.S. Open Cup quarterfinals.
Let’s begin with some head-to-head stats, courtesy of stats.scarvesandspikes.com:
It hasn’t been a stellar start for either side this season, with both Orlando and Atlanta sitting in the bottom four of the Eastern Conference. Orlando City have been on the losing end of three scorelines of 5-0 or worse, and fired former head coach Oscar Pareja only three matches into the campaign. More recently, though, the Lions have turned a corner, winning four of six in all competitions, most notably orchestrating a four goal comeback to defeat Inter Miami at Nu Stadium.
Atlanta United seemed to be on the same track, winning three matches in a row, before falling 1-2 to the LA Galaxy at home last weekend. The Five Stripes now are set to have nearly full player availability from the injury report, with only Miguel Almiron listed as questionable. Steven Alzate has returned to fitness, and will be available to return to the midfield in some form, whatever that may look like in a now extremely crowded room.
The real wrinkle here is the fact that Atlanta United will turn around and face the same team just days later. Does Tata Martino field two different strengths of lineups? Will Atlanta reserve the firepower for the knockout match, knowing that this could be the only shot at silverware this season? How much of a hand does one show?
Thankfully, Orlando is at least stuck in the same predicament, For more on tonight’s opponent, take a look at our 3 Questions series, this time featuring Mike Spillane from the Orlando Lions Den Podcast.
3 Questions about Orlando City with the Orlando Lions Den Podcast’s Mike Spillane
A look at Orlando City before Atlanta United faces them twice in a four-day span.
And as tonight’s 7:30 PM kickoff grows closer, take a peek at our preview and predictions against that purple team:
Atlanta United vs. Orlando City preview, lineups, injuries, score prediction
All you need to know as Atlanta United faces Orlando City for the first of two meetings in four days.
You can tune in to the latest installment of this unfriendly series on Apple TV, no MLS Season Pass required. If audio is more your vibe, 92.9 The Game has your English language coverage, while La Mejor is your go-to for Spanish radio.
No matter where you are, or how things look on the pitch, feel free to chime in on the match down below in our match thread for tonight as the Five Stripes look to put one over the Lions.
Atlanta United’s Lineup:
Orlando City’s Lineup:
How to Watch:
Venue: Inter&Co Stadium, Orlando, Florida
Kickoff Time: Saturday, May 16th, 7:40 PM ET
Available TV/Streaming: Apple TV
Available Radio: 92.9 The Game, La Mejor 1600/1460/1130 AM
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Looking at the replays, Berrocal is heavily to blame for the goal, again. Maybe Hoyos could have cut off the cross, but mostly it was Berrocal ball watching and reacting too late to Dorsey making the run into the box.
It is always Berrocal’s fault
How did we go from “our midfield sucks, we can’t win because we can’t build and connect our defense and our offense” to “our midfield is the only thing somewhat decent on this team”
Stupid, stubborn, bias coach..playing his country men..while we have way better player. Hoyos = shit, baez= shit, bercoal=shit. Putting #59, as the striker, dumb as fuck. We will lose this game. As usial.
hey buddy, you must have had quite the pregame. maybe, hit the hay early tonight and just catch the replay or the highlights tomorrow once you sober up
You are probably the only one that is drunk..if you think this coach is good, and his choices make sense. Fyi..I guess you need to be drunk to watch atl struggle because the coach cannot select better players.
I don’t drink for religious reasons, but glad that you are looking out. Also, I am not a fan of Tata and some of the players that we brought in, but no need to be negative before the match is even over
The leaky back line is leaky…
Interesting lineup. Rotated, I’m guessing Galarza pushed to LW, Miranchuk false 9? And I’m not sure who gets the 6 between Reilly and Muyumba. I think in theory it’s more natural for Reilly at the 6 and Muyumba as one of the 8s, but I don’t know if that’s what Tata will do.
I think this mixture is something most people expected since we will play the same team again on Tuesday in a bigger match. So hopefully this means Amador will get the start on Tuesday and maybe Almiron will be available off the bench as well on Tuesday. I would also hope we subbed out Miranchuk and Galarza around the 60 min so they can be fresh for Tuesday