Atlanta United looks to improve their road play and move into a playoff spot when they visit Toronto FC on Saturday.
Atlanta (10-9-9, 39 points) sits right outside the playoff cut-off line, in eighth place, one point back of seventh-place CF Montreal. United is one of five sides separated by three points from fourth through eighth in the Eastern Conference.
The club has lost two straight on the road, including back on Oct. 2 at Montreal before the international break. They are 2-6-6 as the visitors this season.
“The last two times on the road haven’t been good enough, so we got three home and three away and those three away we really need to pick up points and do everything we can to climb up the table,” defender Brooks Lennon told the team website.
Atlanta United will likely be without Josef Martinez, who is day to day with a hamstring injury. Coach Gonzalo Pineda told radio station 92.9 The Game in Atlanta that he doesn’t think the striker will “make the travel.”
Defenders Miles Robinson and George Bello will be available after returning from international duty.
Toronto (6-15-7, 25 points) will try to avoid officially being eliminated from playoff contention. While the reality of a spot in the postseason was unlikely, a loss to Atlanta would seal it.
Toronto has won two in a row for the first time this season and is 3-0-1 in its past four MLS contests. The 10 points the Canadian side has earned during that run matches their total output in their previous 19 games (2-13-4).
Attacking midfielder Yeferson Soteldo had a goal and an assist in the club’s last outing, a 3-1 win against Chicago on Oct. 3. It was his second straight multipoint match, after recording two assists in a win against FC Cincinnati on Sept. 29.
“I think people judge (Soteldo) on not scoring goals and stuff, but he contributes a lot,” midfielder Jonathan Osorio told the Toronto Sun. “I think he’s more of a provider than a goal scorer. But he’s playing very well. He’s very effective for us. … I think he’s only going to get better.”
–Field Level Media
