At Mercedes-Benz Stadium on Saturday night, Atlanta United takes on the Columbus Crew, one of the best clubs in the Eastern Conference, in their penultimate game before the Leagues Cup break. While the Crew was held to a 1-1 draw at home against Charlotte FC, the 5-Stripes are coming off a hard-fought 2-2 draw against NYCFC in a midweek matchup.
Atlanta is looking to move up the East standings, where it is currently in 12th place but only two points out of eighth place. With two games remaining and presently sitting in third place, just seven points behind Inter Miami, Columbus has its sights set on the summit of the East.
Atlanta came out firing to start and maintained a strong lead throughout the first half of the midweek draw against NYCFC. Daniel Ríos gave the team the fastest goal in club history just 21 seconds into the game. For the majority of the half, they kept NYCFC at bay, and toward the end of the half, Saba Lobjanidze gave them a bigger lead. It was a different story in the second half as NYCFC increased the pressure and eventually scored the equalizer.
The task for Atlanta this coming weekend will be to deliver a powerful 90-minute performance. You cannot afford to lose focus and effort when playing a top club like Columbus; you will be penalized swiftly. Atlanta will have a chance to win against the Crew if it can play with the same level of quality and intensity that it occasionally displayed against NYCFC for the entire game.
Since Wilfried Nancy became head coach, Columbus’ ability to play creative, free-flowing offensive soccer has been a mainstay of their style. While allowing the players to express themselves freely, he also provides them with enough structure and direction to effectively counter press and always surround the ball with numbers. Atlanta’s defense must limit a number of game-changing talents on the Crew’s roster.
One of the best strikers in the league is Cucho Hernandez, while Diego Rossi, who joined the Crew in the middle of the season last year, has settled well. Darlington Nagbe, a former midfielder for Atlanta, is still adept at managing the middle of the pitch. Atlanta’s defense will be put to the test severely in this game.
Only 20 goals have been conceded by Columbus in 22 games this season. Up until this weekend, that represents the league’s greatest defensive record by a wide margin. When opportunities arise, being clinical in front of goal will be crucial to Atlanta’s success on Saturday.
Against NYCFC, the 5-Stripes scored nine goals on target, a season-high. In that game, winger Xande Silva recorded five shots on goal on his own, a career high. For just the second time in his Atlanta career, his wingmate Lobjanidze scored and assisted in the same game. They might be able to give the Crew some trouble on Saturday if they can maintain some of that attacking force.
