Info to know: Atlanta United at Orlando with playoffs on line

Atlanta United (9-14-10) will host Orlando (15-11-7) at 6 p.m. Saturday in Orlando. The game will be televised on AppleTV, and you can follow Doug Roberson’s coverage on X (formerly Twitter) @DougRobersonAJC.

Entering Saturday’s match, here is the situation for Atlanta United to make the playoffs:

An Atlanta United win at Orlando AND a Montreal loss versus New York City FC AND a D.C. United loss versus Charlotte OR
An Atlanta United win at Orlando AND a Montreal loss versus New York City AND a Philadelphia loss/draw versus Cincinnati OR
An Atlanta United win at Orlando City SC AND a Montreal loss versus New York City FC AND an Atlanta United advantage in tiebreakers over Philadelphia OR
An Atlanta United win at Orlando City SC AND a D.C. United loss versus Charlotte AND a Philadelphia loss/draw versus Cincinnati OR
An Atlanta United win at Orlando AND a D.C. United loss versus Charlotte AND an Atlanta United advantage in tiebreakers over Philadelphia

First tiebreaker is wins and second tiebreaker is goal differential.

Orlando manager: Oscar Pareja

Orlando home record: 7-5-4

Orlando goals for/against: 58/48

Orlando expected goals for/against: 49.1/45.6

Orlando key players

Facundo Torres: 14 goals, six assists

Duncan McGuire: 10 goals, three assists

About Atlanta United

Manager: Rob Valentino (interim)

Atlanta United away record: 3-7-6

Atlanta United goals for/against: 44/48

Atlanta United expected goals for/against: 50.0/47.4

Atlanta United key players

Saba Lobjanidze: Eight goals, seven assists

Daniel Rios: Seven goals, four assists

Alexey Miranchuk: Three goals

Injury reports (as of Friday)

Atlanta United

Out: Edwin Mosquera (knee) and Quentin Westberg (concussion protocol)

Questionable: Xande Silva (foot) and Tristan Muyumba (hip)

Orlando

Out: Mason Stajduhar (lower leg) and Wilder Cartagena (yellow card accumulation)

What was said

“Orlando is a team that likes to play. They have a lot of talented players, and a few times this season, we’ve been the team that has had the ball less than other teams, and we’ve still been able to look dangerous in those games in terms of when we’re smart, with how we defend, and we defend as a group, and we’re compact, it allows us to catch the transition. I think they could be expansive at times. We have the quality to go forward and take advantage of those moments. So I think being aware that it might be a game where we suffer, struggle a bit without the ball, but trying to turn it into an advantage for us at the other side of the field.” – Jay Fortune

“Every match has pressure, of course, but this one will be a little bit special. We need to focus on ourselves because we know that we have to win. And then after again, we will see what happened with the others.” – Stian Gregersen

“The mentality is to focus only on the task at hand: to win. We know that it’s not a draw, it’s definitely not a loss, and it’s only about winning the game. ... Everything else we can’t control. So that’s the unfortunate part that we are in, that we’ve dropped results not only throughout the season but just that last little bit last week. We need to win the game, and then from there we’ll see where everything lies at the end of the day. If we win the game, that’s the only thing we can focus on right now.” – Valentino

Officiating crew

Referee: Rubiel Vazquez

Assistants: Kyle Atkins and Jose Da Silva

Fourth official: Marcos DeOliveira

VAR: Kevin Terry Jr.

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 Edwin Mosquera

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.

Stay up to date every day on breaking news, in-depth investigations, politics, sports, entertainment, food and dining and so much more by becoming a subscriber to the AJC. Go to AJC.com/start for a very special offer and unlock hundreds of original articles published daily on the refreshed AJC.com and the new AJC mobile app. Plus, access to our news alerts, subscriber-only events, AJC original shows, films and videos, newsletters, and so much more.

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