Atlanta United vs Orlando City

Mercedes-Benz Stadium is the venue as Atlanta United and Orlando City go head-to-head in a handsomely-looking Major League Soccer fixture.

After reaching the playoff semi-finals last season, Atlanta United risk falling short of their top-nine quest in the Eastern Conference after only winning three of their opening 15 MLS fixtures (D7, L5). However, Ronny Deila’s men bounced back from a dismal eight-game winless league streak (D3, L5) with a commanding 4-2 home win against Cincinnati FC last time out, securing a chance to win back-to-back league outings for the first time this term. Unfortunately, they’ve been notoriously inconsistent at Mercedes-Benz Stadium, with each of their nine MLS home matches this season fluctuating between different outcomes (W3, D3, L3). Low scoring has recently been a common theme at this stadium, with four of Atlanta’s last five home league games featuring under 2.5 goals.

On the other hand, Orlando City’s form resurgence after an abysmal 12-game MLS start (W3, D6, L2) continued with a narrow 1-0 home win against Portland Timbers last weekend. The visitors head into proceedings on a three-game winning league streak, seeking only their second away league triumph against Atlanta since October 2020 (W1, D2, L2). Defensive solidity may help the Lions achieve that feat after they kept an eye-catching five consecutive clean sheets on the road (W2, D3), including a stunning 3-0 victory at star-studded Inter Miami on their last MLS travel. However, it’s worth noting that they had failed to score in three of their four previous away games in all competitions.