Surprising United on road against Red Bulls (Oct 15, 2017)
Atlanta United take aim at the No. 2 overall seed in the Eastern Conference when the surprising expansion franchise hits the road to take on the New York Red Bulls, who also are headed to the MLS Cup Playoffs.
United (15-9-8, 53 points) enter the weekend in third place on the Eastern Conference table and could pull even with second-place New York City FC by picking up three points on the road at Red Bull Arena on Sunday.
The Red Bulls (13-12-7, 46 points) clinched a playoff berth their last time out with a 3-0 win over the Vancouver Whitecaps last week. New York has a chance to climb within one point of Columbus Crew FC for fifth place in the Eastern Conference.
United will not be at full strength on Sunday, with sparkplug midfielder Miguel Almiron listed as questionable and defenseman Greg Garza already ruled out. Almiron has missed the last three games with a hamstring injury in a Sept. 24 win over the Montreal Impact. He is one of United's primary offensive catalysts with nine goals and 13 assists. If he doesn't return against the Red Bulls, Almiron is expected back for the regular-season finale against first-place Toronto FC.
United has been dynamic on both sides of the pitch. With 18 goals, forward Josef Martinez began the weekend just three goals behind Chicago's Nemanga Nikolic in the race for the Golden Boot, despite playing in only 18 matches. Defensively, backup keeper Brad Guzan anchored four clean-sheet performances in September while filling in for the injured Alec Kann.
"We've figured out how we want to play offensively and defensively," United midfielder Michael Parkhurst told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. "We've figured out what Tata (manager Gerardo Martino) wants from us and how to win games. That's important."
Sunday's game will be the final home match of the regular season for the Red Bulls, who are 9-2-5 at home this season.
This will be the second meeting this season between United and the Red Bulls. New York won in Atlanta 2-1 on March 5, behind goals from Daniel Royer and Anton Walker.
"After the first game we played there, we knew they had a good team," Red Bulls coach Jesse Marsch said of Atlanta this week. "They've come together in a really good way. Credit should be passed around a lot of people in that organization for what they've done. ... It'll be a good test for us, and one that could have playoff implications. And we could see them again."
