It’s a quick turnaround for Atlanta United as they welcome New England Revolution on Wednesday night to Mercedes-Benz Stadium. Coming off a 1-1 draw on the road on Saturday night at Orlando, Atlanta looks to continue its impressive run at home this season. The team owns a 5-1-1 (W-L-T) record at home this season. New England is coming off a wild 3-3 draw at home against Chicago Fire FC. It promises to be a good matchup as the Revolution sit just two points ahead of Atlanta in the Eastern Conference standings. Let’s take a closer look at the Tools to the Match presented by The Home Depot against New England Revolution.
Play with urgency; Put Revs under pressure early
Tyler Wolff scored a late equalizer for Atlanta in Orlando to take home a valuable road point on the weekend. Now Atlanta needs to carry over that late momentum and show that same urgency from the start. They need to put New England under pressure early and capitalize on the scoring chances they create. When Atlanta scores the first goal in a match this season, the team is undefeated (5-0-3 record). The same goes for the Revolution who are 6-0-2 in matches where they score first. Atlanta leads the league in goals scored with 29 coming into the match and if they can find the back of the net early and put New England on their heels, that will go a long way to securing three points.
Don’t let Carles Gil take over the match
The Revolution are looking to reverse their recent trend of three matches without a victory. They picked up a 3-3 draw last time out against Chicago. Bobby Wood and Jozy Altidore scored to secure a point. The main attacking threat for the Revolution continues to be Carles Gil. The Spanish midfielder is one of the best chance creators in MLS over the last several seasons. The former MVP once against leads New England with five assists and 31 key passes. Atlanta’s midfield will have to be alert at all times to where Gil is and not give away many set pieces in and around the box where Gil can provide service to the strikers.
Wood leads the team with four goals while his strike partner Giacomo Vrioni has three goals on the season coming into Wednesday. Atlanta is looking for its fourth clean sheet of the season, while Brad Guzan is looking for his 50th MLS Regular Season clean sheet with Atlanta.
Give Almada options to create in the attack
Thiago Almada continues to be one of the top attacking midfielders in MLS this season. The Argentine World Cup winner created four chances against Orlando last time out. He leads MLS this season with 44 chances created, and now has 18 games all-time in MLS with four or more chances created. That’s the second-highest total since 2022, when Almada joined the league. Atlanta needs to continue to provide options for Almada to create those scoring opportunities. The attack will be boosted by the potential return of Luiz Araujo. Giorgos Giakoumakis is a threat in the air and with runs in behind. With the way the 5-Stripes typically dominate possession, the movement off the ball will be key on Wednesday night to allow Almada opportunities to create dangerous scoring chances.
Fans can tune in nationally on MLS Season Pass on the Apple TV app on Wednesday night at 7:00pm ET when the action kicks off at Mercedes-Benz Stadium. The game will also be broadcast nationally on FS1. To hear the action on radio, tune into Sports Radio 92.9 The Game or Sirius XM Channel 157 (English) or La Mejor – AM 1600 (Spanish).
