Atlanta United is back at Mercedes-Benz Stadium on Saturday to take on New York City FC, a team that’s currently on the outside looking in at the playoff race after a 1-4-4 skid. The Pigeons sit 10th in the East, a point back of ninth-place FC Cincinnati and six points ahead of Atlanta.
This one could be a little interesting as international call-ups and injuries have left both sides thin in the ranks. Atlanta, for one, will have to put that aside and win this one if it’s to have any chance of making a late-season playoff run.
For more on NYCFC, I spoke with Andrew Leigh from New York Soccer Journal.
Both teams will be missing players due to call-ups (Matt Freese, Jonny Shore, etc.) and injuries (such as Talles Magno, Maxi Moralez, Keaton Parks). Based on that, what’s your overall expectation for this one, especially with NYC being more actively in the playoff hunt?
The international window means NYCFC will be without three surefire starters: Freese in goal, midfielder Aiden O’Neill (Australia), and right-back Tayvon Gray (Jamaica). Shore (US U-20), too, plus Gray’s backup at right-back, Mitja Ilenič (Slovenia U-21). Add those absences to the team’s improved, but still not ideal, injury situation, and the team’s midfield and defensive depth are sure to be tested the most in Atlanta. Right-back is a true mystery at this point, because they have no obvious other candidates to fill in there. Pascal Jansen has been using James Sands as a hybrid who shuffles between center-back and defensive midfield, and the team signed Matt Miazga off waivers and seems ready to throw him in there and hope he provides a fresh edge that’s been lacking while they’ve picked up one win from their last nine MLS matches.
It’s guaranteed to be a new-look defense, which could be extra concerning since NYCFC concedes goals with regularity when it plays at Mercedes-Benz Stadium, losing 4-3 there a year ago.
Your site wrote about Bénie Traoré and his slow start since signing for NYC from Basel. Is it just a matter of him getting his legs under him in a new country/league, or could it be something deeper in your mind?
It was definitely a fitness concern at first with Traoré. He was essentially building up his minutes like it was preseason in his first handful of appearances for New York City after last playing for FC Basel in mid-May. Now, though, he’s up to 14 total NYCFC matches played, and he remains stuck on one goal scored from the penalty spot, no assists, and only a small number of truly threatening moments created — not enough of a return from a Designated Player that reportedly cost over $9 million to pick up this summer.
The only silver lining might be that he looked freshly dangerous playing alongside Alonso Martínez when the two of them subbed on for the final 30 minutes of the Hudson River Derby loss last time out. Each of Traoré and Martínez had some great chances to find goals in that game, which Pascal Jansen will hope they can build on going into Atlanta.
Nico Fernandez Mercau is obviously the star man for NYC (Sporting Kansas City certainly likes him!), but of his 15 goals, only two have come in his last 10 matches across all competitions: seven league matches and three Leagues Cup appearances. (He has four assists in that span.) What will Atlanta need to do on Saturday to keep him from making an impact?
Nico’s role shifted a bit since the World Cup. They stopped using him as their de facto center-forward once they picked up both Traoré and U22 Initiative loanee Luighi, though he was highly successful while nominally playing as a striker earlier in the season, hanging around the top of the Golden Boot race despite never having scored more than seven goals in a season coming into the 2026 campaign.
He’s not exactly a like-for-like replacement for what NYCFC misses in the injured Maxi Moralez, but Fernández Mercau is a handful for all NYCFC opponents. He’s got the freedom to roam while NYCFC is in possession, generally operating as the No. 10 but as one who sometimes spends more time over in the right half-space, or other times drops deep into the midfield to connect play and build out from deeper in the back. He’s a magnet for fouls and is a deadly striker of the ball, responsible for some legit laser-beam goals out of his 15 scored so far.
Fernández Mercau probably could serviceably play any position on the field outside goalkeeper, and I shudder to think about where NYCFC would be without him this season. While his numbers have dipped a bit, he’s still the most likely player to drag NYCFC into a positive result just through his own individual brilliance.
Bonus question: what impact do you think Matt Miazga can have on NYC’s defense?
In picking him up, the team is talking up Miazga’s mentality and the competitive edge he plays with, which are definite areas NYCFC needs to improve. They concede way too many goals in stoppage time, concede a little too often off set pieces, and throughout the year have struggled to find the right combination at center-back. Thiago Martins remains the club captain and is still one of the better central defenders in MLS, but it’s been a mixed showing for players paired with him. They tried Kai Trewin there early in the season, but he struggled at times, shifted to playing more central midfield, but then has been out injured since the World Cup after needing surgery on his foot. Raul Gustavo has been a general disappointment since arriving late last summer, and James Sands has been solid but has had a few big mistakes (hello, Julian Hall goal last time out) and might be more needed in the midfield, at least in Atlanta.
Miazga doesn’t appear to be the same player he was at his peak, either in Europe or, even more recently, with FC Cincinnati when he won Defender of the Year and helped them win the Supporters’ Shield. His knee surgery in 2024 seems to have been hard to move past, and he’s 31 now, so expectations are lower, especially because he’s only here for the rest of 2026 and it’s still unclear exactly what role he’ll be asked to fill. NYCFC is grasping for anything positive to break their way in order to snap out of what’s been an ugly stretch of play since the start of August, and they’re hoping Miazga is a part of that.