Brooks Lennon will make his season debut for Atlanta United in the home match against Inter Miami CF on Sunday Night Soccer presented by Continental Tire. The American defender missed Atlanta's first three matches due to an injured shoulder.
The injury occured the last time these two sides met last fall. In the Audi 2024 MLS Cup Playoffs, No. 9 seed Atlanta United shocked the world as major underdogs and eliminated Supporters' Shield winners and Eastern Conference No. 1 seed Inter Miami in the Round One Best-of-3 Series.
With both Lennon and fullback Pedro Amador appearing in the starting XI for head coach Ronny Deila, Sunday will be the first match that these two starters will play together in 2025. After missing the opener against CF Montréal and Matchday 2 in Charlotte, Amador returned to the pitch last weekend against New York Red Bulls and played a full 90 minutes.
For Lennon, the start marks the 200th in his MLS regular season career, and 137 of those have been with Atlanta United. On Sunday, he'll be looking to cross another incredible milestone for the club. Lennon enters the match just one assist shy of moving to the top spot in Atlanta United history. Recording his 39th assist would tie him with Julian Gressel for No. 1 all-time for the club.
We'll see if Lennon can get it done against Inter Miami, a club he's recorded five assists against in his career.
Atlanta United Starting XI:
Brad Guzan (C), Brooks Lennon, Stian Gregersen, Derrick Williams, Pedro Amador, Bartosz Slisz, Tristan Muyumba, Alexey Miranchuk, Miguel Almirón, Saba Lobjanidze, Emmanuel Latte Lath
Reserves: Josh Cohen, Luis Abram, Noah Cobb, Matt Edwards, Jay Fortune, Edwin Mosquera, Will Reilly, Xande Silva, Cayman Togashi
Inter Miami CF Starting XI:
Rocco RÃos Novo, Gonzalo Luján, Maximiliano Falcón, Noah Allen, Jordi Alba, Yannick Bright, Sergio Busquets, Tadeo Allende, Telasco Segovia, Lionel Messi (C), Luis Suárez
Reserves: Drake Callender, Leo Afonso, Tomás Avilés, Benjamin Cremaschi, Ian Fray, David MartÃnez, Federico Redondo, Santiago Morales, Fafa Picault
Match Notes:
-- Atlanta United will be looking for the team's first goal since Edwin Mosquera's game-winner in the 85th minute against CF Montréal on February 22. A good way to do that is creating clear cut chances, which Atlanta United has done so far this season. Entering Matchday 4, Atlanta has ranked tied for third in MLS in shots on goal with 19 total.
-- Miguel Almirón is two goals shy of moving up to second place all-time in scoring for the club. The midfielder recorded an assist, the 50th goal contribution in his MLS regular season career, in his joyful return during Atlanta's 3-2 win over Montréal.
-- Cayman Togashi made his first MLS appearance last weekend against Red Bulls. The Japanese striker has scored 49 goals in his professional career. His next goal would be No. 50 and his first goal in his Atlanta United career.
-- Atlanta United owns an all-time series record of 7-5-4 (W-L-T) against Inter Miami in MLS play, including regular season and playoffs. Five of those wins for the 5-Stripes have come at home, where they have outscored Miami 15-8.
-- Former 5-Stripe Rocco RÃos Novo earns the start for Inter Miami in goal.
