After three consecutive and dominant wins, including three clean sheets, LAFC is back on the road to face Atlanta United on Saturday afternoon at Mercedes-Benz Stadium. LAFC is 1W-2L-1D against Atlanta, with both losses being away.
Coming off a 3-0 win over Loudoun United in the Round of 16 of the 2024 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup, LAFC will look to make it three MLS wins in a row after beating Vancouver 3-0 and St. Louis 2-0. A Denis Bouanga brace last Wednesday helped his team take the 5th spot in the Western Conference. A win this weekend could see them take the second spot just under Real Salt Lake.
Atlanta United
Atlanta United currently sit in 12th place in the Eastern Conference with 13 points through 13 games played, managing only three wins so far in the season. While Atlanta also secured a ticket to the quarterfinals of the U.S Open Cup beating Charleston Battery in penalties, Gonzalo Pineda’s men have not won an MLS game in the last eight matches. Their last win was back in March in a 3-0 win over Chicago.
To make things worse for the Five Stripes, the team will be without striker Giorgos Giakoumakis due to a hamstring injury. Thiago Almada is also questionable to take part of any action due to a calf injury he suffered against Cincinnati on May 15. Giakoumakis blew the league out of the water last season with an impressive 17 goals and 3 assists in 21 starts. The Greek International continued said form this season, registering 5 goals and 2 assists in 8 matches played.
LAFC heating up
The Black and Gold seem to be building some momentum after that 3-1 loss against the San Jose Earthquakes back in early May, which was one of the worst performances in a while. Since then, LAFC has managed four consecutive wins across all competitions, with two coming in the U.S Open Cup. Most importantly, the team managed its first away win of the season, something that was unfamiliar territory for the club.
Another thing to notice in the last few games is the improvement of the defense. The team has only allowed one goal against in their last four matches. And while two of those were against lower tier teams in the cup, they help to build momentum and set things straight. The losses of Giorgio Chiellini and Diego Palacios had been felt strongly so far in the season, it was going to take some time for Steve Cherundolo and the rest of the players to adjust.
LAFC winning this game comes down to the basics of how to win a game of football: being the best on both boxes on both ends of the pitch. You have to be deadly in front of goal, cant be wasting chances like in previous games. Especially vs an opponent who you have not been able to score against in their stadium. Defensively, it may be just a tad easier considering their two best players might not play the game. This should allow them to be more composed and put up a better performance. I expect Cherundolo to be more aggressive and take bigger risks in the attack.If there was ever a time to get your first win in Atlanta, tomorrow is the day.
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