Atlanta United (7-12-7) will play at Charlotte (10-8-8) at 7:30 p.m. Saturday at Bank of America Stadium. The game will be televised on AppleTV, and you can follow Doug Roberson’s coverage on X (formerly Twitter) @DougRobersonAJC.
Charlotte manager: Dean Smith
Atlanta United away record: 2-7-4
Charlotte home record: 6-2-5
Charlotte goals for/against: 31/28
Charlotte expected goals for/against: 34.1/33.2
Atlanta United goals for/against: 35/38
Atlanta United expected goals for/against: 38.8/38.0
Charlotte key players
Patrick Agyemang: Seven goals, three assists
Kerwin Vargas: Five goals, one assist
Liel Abada: Four goals, two assists
Atlanta United key players
Saba Lobjanidze: Six goals, seven assists
Daniel Rios: Six goals, two assists
Jamal Thiare: Five goals
Brooks Lennon: Six assists
Alexey Miranchuk: New signee
Injury reports (as of Friday)
Atlanta United
Out: Tristan Muyumba (hip) and Quentin Westberg (concussion protocol)
Questionable: Ronald Hernandez (knee)
Charlotte
None reported
What was said
“First half, I thought we were the much better team. The goal kind of gave them life. Thinking back, I think we could have had three or four goals in that first half. We were very good. Second half, we came out first 15 minutes, they made some adjustments. They were very pressing, high press, and we didn’t adjust to it.” – Derrick Williams on Atlanta United’s previous match against Charlotte
“I think we both know it’s a big game for both of us, so both teams are going to want to win. They’re at home, they’re going to come fighting. You’re going to put everything into the game, and it’s important to start the match with intensity. I think if we do that, we have the talent to try and get us over the edge. But I think we know it’s not going to be an easy game. It’s going to be a dogfight at times, and there’s going to be suffering for both teams. We stay focused for 90-plus minutes that gives us the best chance with it being a rivalry.” – Jay Fortune
“We talked about (before the L.A. Galaxy game Saturday) there were nine games at the time, and we talked about the nine games are guaranteed. We have the rest of that season right, and after that, we hope we have more. And that’s the goal, to have more after that. So that one game’s gone now. We’ve got eight left, and then we approach every game as it comes. And there’s urgency, too. We don’t talk about outcome a lot, but the outcome is important because in my head, the outcome doesn’t change. We want to win every single game, and that’s the approach we go with, and that’s the mentality we go with. It doesn’t always happen. And I understand that’s the way it works. That’s the way life works. But we will go with that same urgency that we have had.” – Interim manager Rob Valentino
Officiating crew
Referee: Alexis Da Silva
Assistants: Jason White and Kevin Klinger
Fourth official: Guido Gonzales Jr.
VAR: Edvin Jurisevic
AVAR: Tom Supple
Atlanta United’s predicted 11
Goalkeeper Brad Guzan
Centerback Derrick Williams
Centerback Stian Gregersen
Right fullback Brooks Lennon
Left fullback Pedro Amador
Midfielder Bartosz Slisz
Midfielder Dax McCarty
Midfielder Alexey Miranchuk
Midfielder Xande Silva
Midfielder Saba Lobjanidze
Striker Jamal Thiare
For more content about Atlanta United
Follow me on Twitter/X @DougRobersonAJC
On Facebook at Atlanta United News Now
On Instagram at DouglasDavidRoberson
Atlanta United coverage on The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Southern Fried Soccer podcast can be found
Apple - https://apple.co/3ISD6Ve
Spotify - https://spoti.fi/3L8TN0C
Google podcasts - https://bit.ly/32KlZW3
If you are going to listen to the podcast for the first time, please follow it on Apple, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts ... and if you like what you hear, please give us a good rating so we can grow the show. If you have questions about the MLS team, you can email Doug Roberson at droberson@ajc.com, DM him on Twitter @dougrobersonajc or call 404-526-2527.
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Atlanta United’s 2024 schedule
Feb. 24 Columbus 1, Atlanta United 0
March 9 Atlanta United 4, New England 1
March 17 Atlanta United 2, Orlando 0
March 23 Toronto 2, Atlanta United 0
March 31 Atlanta United 3, Chicago 0
April 6 Atlanta United 1, NYCFC 1
April 14 Atlanta United 2, Philadelphia 2
April 20 Cincinnati 2, Atlanta United 1
April 27 Atlanta United 1, Chicago 1
May 4 Minnesota 2, Atlanta United 1
May 7 Atlanta United 3, Charlotte Independence 0 in U.S. Open Cup
May 11 D.C. United 3, Atlanta United 2
May 15 Cincinnati 1, Atlanta United 0
May 18 Atlanta United 1, Nashville 1
May 21 Atlanta United 0 (5), Charleston 0 (4) in U.S. Open Cup
May 25 LAFC 1, Atlanta United 0
May 29 Atlanta United 3, Miami 1
June 2 Charlotte 3, Atlanta United 2
June 15 Atlanta United 2, Houston 2
June 19 Atlanta United 1, D.C. United 0
June 22 Atlanta United 1, St. Louis 1
June 29 Atlanta United 2, Toronto 1
July 3 New England 2, Atlanta United 1
July 6 Real Salt Lake 5, Atlanta United 2
July 9 vs. Indy Eleven 2, Atlanta United 1
July 13 Montreal 1, Atlanta United 0
July 17 Atlanta United 2, NYCFC 2
July 20 Atlanta United 2, Columbus 1
July 26 D.C. United 3 (6), Atlanta United 3 (5) in Leagues Cup
Aug. 4 Santos Laguna 0 (5), Atlanta United 0 (3) in Leagues Cup
Aug. 24 Charlotte 2, Atlanta United 0
Aug. 31 at Charlotte, 7:30 p.m.
Sept. 14 vs. Nashville, 7:30 p.m.
Sept. 18 vs. Miami, 7:30 p.m.
Sept. 21 at Red Bulls, 7:30 p.m.
Sept. 28 at Philadelphia, 7:30 p.m.
Oct. 2 vs. Montreal, 7:30 p.m.
Oct. 5 vs. Red Bulls, 7:30 p.m.
Oct. 19 at Orlando, 6 p.m.
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