MARIETTA, Ga. – On paper, Atlanta United should feel confident going into Saturday’s match against Orlando City SC at Mercedes-Benz Stadium (7 pm ET | ESPN – Full TV and streaming info).
Orlando are currently on a seven-game losing streak in league play — a skid Atlanta kicked off on May 13 with a 2-1 win in these teams’ last meeting – and this weekend the Lions will be led by interim manager Bobby Murphy after Jason Kreis was let go two weeks ago. The picture got gloomier still for Orlando on Friday, when the club announced that winger Justin Meram will miss the Atlanta match for personal reasons.
Despite the ongoing turmoil down in Florida, however, the Five Stripes are not looking past this matchup with an important Eastern Conference rival.
“Sometimes when teams are struggling like they are, it’s hard to get a good read of that team in the buildup to the match,” Atlanta head coach Gerardo “Tata” Martino said through a translator after Friday’s training session. “But they’re a team we weren’t able to beat both times we played at home last year. We drew them both times, so we know it’s a game we have to be fully prepared for.”
Said Atlanta forward Josef Martinez: “This is an important game for us. It doesn’t matter that they’re going through a little bit of a bad moment in the league. We’re not going to take that for granted and think that they’re not one of the good teams in the league. But independent of the opponent, we have to focus on what we want to do, prepare ourselves for this game.”
To be successful, Martinez said he and his teammates need to be more efficient in the final third than they were in their 1-1 draw against the Portland Timbers last weekend, and “take advantage of the opportunities we’re presented with.”
“In the last game, I think we had bad luck,” said Martinez, who currently leads the MLS Golden Boot race with 14 goals on the year. “So hopefully this game, luck’s more on our side and we’ll be able to finish some of those chances.”
Atlanta will also have to cope with the absence of midfield maestro Darlington Nagbe, who has been sidelined for 2-3 months with an adductor injury. Martino said he will either put Julian Gressel or Kevin Kratz in Nagbe’s spot, and then field Hector “Tito” Villalba or Gressel out on the wing.
Martino also said he’s not worried about playmaker Miguel Almiron, who has struggled of late, failing to score in his last nine appearances. Almiron has been dealing with a nagging shoulder injury, Martino said, which was making him more hesitant on both sides of the ball.
“In the last game [against Portland], I thought he looked fine,” Martino said. “He was playing looser and not worried about clashing with opponents or how we was going to fall on the shoulder, so I thought he looked OK. And this week in training I think he’s looked fine, so I don’t think he could be any better.”
