Looking to earn points for the fourth consecutive week, Atlanta United wraps up a three-game homestand against the visiting New England Revolution on Saturday afternoon.
Atlanta (2-2-3, 9 points) is coming off a 1-1 draw with FC Dallas a week ago, despite totaling more shots and corners than the visitors. The draw followed a victory over New York City FC and a tie against FC Cincinnati.
With an opportunity to extend its points stretch, head coach Ronny Deila wants to see his club capitalize on its chances and begin to string victories together.
“We should have had more clear-cut chances because we had so much around their box. That’s the thing we can improve,” Deila said after the Dallas match. “But at the same time, I have seen a lot of improvement. … I need to be patient, and I see improvement in a lot of things, but at the same time it’s frustrating not to win the game.”
A bright spot for Atlanta has been Miguel Almiron, who has scored in each of the team’s last two games. Almiron rejoined Atlanta in January after six-plus years with Newcastle United. The 31-year-old was a key member of Atlanta’s 2018 MLS champion squad, before leaving for the Premier League.
Emmanuel Latte Lath leads United — and is tied for second in the MLS — with five goals.
New England (1-4-1, 4 points) is in desperate need of an offensive spark entering Saturday. The Revolution, who have dropped four of five, rank last in the league with just three total goals on the year.
Despite the inept offensive play to begin the season, head coach Caleb Porter sees improvement in the last two weeks, which include the club’s lone win on March 29 against the New York Red Bulls and last week’s 1-0 loss at FC Cincinnati.
“I think the last two games in particular look and feel different,” Porter said. “We played really hard last game. We fought, we had a good mentality. We were in great positions to score. That’s different from games prior to New York. … I want to see a killer instinct from the players. I like the way we’re fighting and our energy, but we see we can do better.”
Carles Gil is responsible for both New England goals this year, with the third coming off an own goal against New York City FC.
–Field Level Media
