Atlanta United is back at Mercedes-Benz Stadium for the final match before the first international break of the 2021 MLS season. The 5-Stripes welcome Nashville SC to Atlanta for the fourth edition of this new Southeastern rivalry. Atlanta is riding a three-match unbeaten streak into Saturday’s clash. They will look to hand Nashville its first loss of the 2021 season. Let’s take a look at the Tools to the Match presented by The Home Depot.
Take Care of Home Field Advantage
The 17’s created an incredible atmosphere the last time Atlanta United played at home. In front of 40,116 rowdy and proud supporters, the largest soccer crowd in the world since the pandemic began, the 5-Stripes showed resilience and fought until the very end to secure the three points. Since Atlanta United joined MLS, they have played a total of 53 regular season matches in front of a crowd 40,000 or larger. The 5-Stripes record in those matches is 37-5-11 with 51 of those 53 matches coming at Mercedes-Benz Stadium. With another big crowd expected on Saturday afternoon, Atlanta will look to use that home field advantage and secure three more points before heading into the international break.
Breaking Down Nashville’s stellar defense
Nashville SC is coming into Saturday’s derby match with a lot of confidence, especially defensively. The team has not conceded a goal in four consecutive matches, which is tied for the best mark in MLS. In fact, Nashville has not tasted defeat in any of its six MLS matches this season with a record of 2-0-4. After giving up two goals each in the first two matches, the defense has tightened up and held opponents scoreless.
Last season, Nashville featured a similar back line and spine through the middle, but Atlanta found the net twice in each of the three meetings. They will look to break down this stellar defense once again on Saturday. Midfielder Brooks Lennon spoke to reporters earlier this week on the task at hand on Saturday.
“They have two blocks of four with very good defensive players. They’ve got Walker Zimmerman, who has been in the USMNT cycle for a while, as well as a guy like Daniel Lovitz on the left hand side. They have players who have been in the league for a while. It’s going to be a tough test for us. They haven’t conceded in a while, but hopefully we will be the first to break them down and to score against them.”
Keep the creativity flowing
Atlanta continued its trend last week of being consistent in terms of creating chances. They created eight against Seattle, continuing the streak of having at least seven created chances in each MLS match this season. The 5-Stripes are also the most fouled team in MLS (105), which could lead to some dangerous set piece opportunities. Lennon ranks among the top-10 in chances created from set pieces with seven on the campaign.
As the team continues to gain confidence in the style that head coach Gabriel Heinze wants them to play, the attacking third is showing signs of coming together. Saturday’s match will provide another good test against a stingy Nashville defence.
Kickoff is set for 3:30 p.m. ET at Mercedes-Benz Stadium as Atlanta United hosts Nashville SC. Fans can tune in on Bally Sports Southeast and Sports Radio 92.9 The Game to follow the action.
