Preview
Atlanta United travels to Harrison, NJ to face the New York Red Bulls. The match has been hyped all week long across all the MLS media channels. Many have had this date circled on the calendar since the middle of the summer as both teams have consistently been the two best teams in the MLS all year.
Both teams have had excellent form over the past six matches, each only losing once in that time. Atlanta holds a slight edge with five wins and a loss, while the New York Red Bulls have three wins and two draws to go with the loss.
New York head coach Chris Armas, spoke this week about the match and said, “Our team has always risen to the occasion in big matches, especially at home. He continued giving Atlanta their due, “We had a great match with Atlanta early on this year. It was back and forth at times, but we obviously edged them out. We have a lot of respect for Atlanta. They have a lot of weapons, they’re coached well, but we are going to look to be the aggressors. We want to go after them and we’ll make them earn everything they get on the day.”
Atlanta head coach Tata Martino joked about the Supporters’ Shield situation with a laugh, “We might have a hand on it, but the Red Bulls want to cut that hand off.”
Broadcast Details
TV: ESPN
English Radio: Star 94-1 (local), Sirius XM FC (national)
Spanish Radio: La Mejor 1600 AM
Pre-match coverage:
12 p.m.: AT&T Countdown to Kickoff (FB Live/Periscope)
11:30 a.m.: The Pre-Game show (92-9 The Game)
Atlanta United
Squad Details
The question for Atlanta is what formation will coach Martino employ. He has made tactical formation adjustments over the past several matches using three forwards and a three man back line at different times. With Darlington Nagbe back from injury he now has more options in the mid-field.
- Suspended: None
- Suspended after next caution: Chris McCann, Jeff Larentowicz
- International duty: None
- Injury Report:
- Out:
- Greg Garza (torn labrum right shoulder)
- Sal Zizzo (right knee injury)
- Mikey Ambrose (right knee surgery)
- Questionable:
- none
- Out:
Projected Starting XI
(4-2-3-1)
- GK: Brad Guzan
- Defenders (4): Franco Escobar, Michael Parkhurst, Leandro Gonzalez Pirez, Chris McCann
- Defensive Midfielders (2): Jeff Larentowicz, Julian Gressel
- Attacking Midfielders (3): Hector Villalba, Miguel Almíron, Ezequiel Barco
- Forwards (1): Josef Martínez
New York Red Bull
Squad Details
The much talked about concern for New York is the suspension of Bradley Wright-Phillips, who will sit out for yellow-card accumulation. This leaves a key part of the New York game plan off the pitch.
- Suspended: Bradley Wright-Phillips
- Suspended after next caution: Kaku, Michael Amir Murillo
- International duty: None
- Injury Report:
- Out:
- Florian Valot (torn left ACL)
- Kyle Duncan (torn right ACL)
- Vincent Bezecourt (right MCL surgery)
- Tommy Redding (shoulder surgery)
- Ben Mines (broken left clavicle surgery)
- Questionable:
- none
- Out:
Projected Starting XI
(4-2-3-1)
- GK: Luis Robles
- Defenders (4): Michael Murillo, Tim Parker, Aaron Long, Kemar Lawrence
- Defensive Midfielders (2): Marc Rzatkowski, Tyler Adams
- Attacking Midfielders (3): Danny Royer, Kaku, Alex Muyl
- Forwards (1): Brian White
Recent Meetings
Atlanta United 1, New York Red Bulls 3 (May 10, 2018)
New York Red Bulls 0 Atlanta United 0 (October 15, 2017)
Atlanta United 1, New York Red Bulls 2 (March 5, 2017)
