Info to know: Atlanta United at Orlando in MLS playoffs

Atlanta United will play Orlando at 3:30 p.m. Sunday at Inter & Co Stadium in Orlando, Florida, in the MLS Eastern Conference semifinals. The game will be televised on AppleTV, and you can follow Doug Roberson’s coverage on X (formerly Twitter) @DougRobersonAJC.

Orlando manager: Oscar Pareja

Orlando home record; playoffs: 7-6-4; 1-0-1

Orlando goals for/against; playoffs: 59/50; 3/1

Orlando key players

Duncan McGuire; playoffs: 10 goals, two assists; 0 goals, 0 assists

Martin Ojeda; playoffs: Four goals, nine assists; 1 goal, 0 assists

Luis Muriel; playoffs: Four goals, four assists; 0 goal, 0 assists

Ivan Angulo; playoffs: Five goals, five assists; 0 goals, 0 assists

Ramiro Enrique; playoffs: Eight goals, two assists;

About Atlanta United

Manager: Rob Valentino (interim)

Atlanta United away record; playoffs: 4-7-6; 1-1-1

Atlanta United goals for/against; playoffs: 49/53; 8/7

Atlanta United key players

Saba Lobjanidze; playoffs: 10 goals, 7 assists; 1 goal, 0 assists

Jamal Thiare; playoffs: 6 goals; 2 goals

Alexey Miranchuk; playoffs: 3 goals, 2 assists; 0 goals, 3 assists

Pedro Amador; playoffs: 0 goals, 4 assists; 0 goals, 4 assists

Injury reports (as of Friday)

Atlanta United

Out: Edwin Mosquera (knee), Quentin Westberg (concussion protocol) and Brooks Lennon (shoulder)

Orlando

Out: Mason Stajduhar (lower leg)

What was said

“You can see it’s so much more confidence into the group, so much energy. When I’ve been away now, 10 days, and coming back now, it’s so good. You can feel the atmosphere around the club, and everybody’s on top, you know? So, yeah, I’m looking so forward to playing this game.” — Stian Gregersen

“Candidly, this has been one of the more frustrating seasons I’ve ever been a part of. Honestly as a player, I’ve said this before, but more often than not, I’ve been on teams where we’ve actually secured a playoff spot weeks in advance, and we’ve actually been favorites going into the playoffs, and then we have floundered after having great seasons, and so this is the reverse of that. And honestly, it feels great right now. It didn’t feel great throughout the course of the season. It was extremely frustrating, but at this moment in time, it feels really good because the team is, I think, playing the best that it’s played all season. And the mood is great.” — Dax McCarty

“I’ve always told them, there’s nothing to lose. Don’t play with a fear of failure because you’ll be timid. You’ll make mistakes. And since I’ve been around them, I’ve always told them I don’t care if they make mistakes. It’s about the reaction after that. I’d hope that they’re not saying like, ‘Hey, we got in by chance.’ It’s not by chance. You stay persistent. We got in. I can’t help that we needed those things to happen. We won the game. And now we push forward.” — Valentino

Officiating crew

Referee: Armando Villarreal

Assistants: Kathryn Nesbitt and Chris Elliott

Fourth official: Pierre Luc-Lauziere

VAR: Greg Dopka

AVAR: Mike Kampmeinert

Atlanta United’s predicted 11

Goalkeeper Brad Guzan

Centerback Derrick Williams

Centerback Stian Gregersen

Right fullback Ronald Hernandez

Left fullback Pedro Amador

Midfielder Dax McCarty

Midfielder Alexey Miranchuk

Midfielder Jay Fortune

Midfielder Bartosz Slisz

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