It is a busy Sunday in the MLS and the first match to kick off does so at Yankee Stadium where two recent MLS Cup winners meet as the reigning champions New York City host the 2018 winners Atlanta United in a standout match.
These two were involved in crazy games in midweek and hopefully both provide a similar entertainment level here. New York City FC came away from FC Cincinnati with a point after a mad 4-4 draw, while Atlanta United outplayed New York Red Bulls only to lose 2-1 late on.
All eyes will be on New York City FC here. There is no hiding that they weren’t at their best in Cincinnati but they showed an incredible fighting spirit to come from 3-0 down to secure a 4-4 draw and as they adapt and move forward under interim coach Nick Cushing, who replaced the recently departed Ronny Deila, that will be crucial.
Cushing and his team look like they are going to be without key defender Maxime Chanot for this match as he suffered a nasty looking gash on his leg when attempting to save a goal for FC Cincinnati on Wednesday evening.
Atlanta United have been very inconsistent since Tata Martino departed for the Mexico job and this season in particular injuries have impacted them very badly. Even last week Brooks Lennon went down in the warm up and it is severely holding them back and must be affecting confidence.
This should be a great spectacle between two sides with a lot of great technical players in their roster. Take a look at my bet builder for the televised clash.
New York City FC v Atlanta Bet Builder Tips
Over 2.5 Goals
Whenever New York City FC play at home there is always a tendency to think that there will be goals. There have been 30 of them in the nine NYC matches in MLS this term, 22 of them coming from the boots and heads of the home team. I’m not convinced anything is going to change here against a team who scores for fun but who at the same time concede regularly too.
Confidence has to be low at Atlanta United right now. They have just one win in their last six outings and even when they outplay their opposition, as they did at Red Bull Arena on Wednesday evening, they are still finding ways to lose. On Wednesday, they looked to be cruising to victory and then a moment of madness from young left-back Caleb Wiley allowed the Red Bulls back in and they took full advantage.
Both these teams are likely to be without key defenders in this match. I mentioned above that Chanot had to go off early in midweek with a nasty gash to his leg and that would have been some treatment for that to be patched up to go again here, while Franco Ibarra is suspended after yellow card accumulation for the visitors.
These are two offence minded teams anyway and with Atlanta United getting one playmaker back from suspension in Thiago Almada and two more key attacking players in Marcelino Moreno and Josef Martinez being saved in midweek for this game we should see both teams at full attacking output so over 2.5 goals is a natural first pick for the bet builder.
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Prediction: Over 2.5 Goals
Talles Magno to have 1+ Shots on Target
A good market to bump up the odds of any bet builder is the shots on target one and in this game we could have a jamboree of them to pick from with attacks heavily expected to dominate the defences.
We may well see two winners of the Golden Boot on show here in Valentin Castellanos and Josef Martinez but even if they are saved to come on from the bench the likes of Heber, Gabriel Pereira, Maxi Moralez, Ronaldo Cisneros and Luiz Araujo are all potent attacking players. The player I like for a shot on target though is the Brazilian attacking midfielder Talles Magno.
I think Magno is one of the best players in MLS this term. He has played the most minutes of any attacking player for NYCFC this season but despite that his quality is not declining and he is something of a shot on target machine, having registered 16 of them this season at an average or more than one per match.
Atlanta are going to be missing their defensive midfield enforcer Ozzie Alonso for this match and with both starting wing-backs also missing for the visitors there is going to be a lot of space and vulnerable defenders to exploit. Talles Magno can play all across the three attacking midfield positions and is direct in his play. Expect him to hit the target during the 90 minutes.
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Prediction: Talles Magno to have 1+ Shots on Target
Alan Franco to be Shown a Card
I expect a strong wave of New York City FC attacking pressure on this vulnerable Atlanta United defensive back line and that might spell trouble for Alan Franco, who could be a very busy man looking to track and repel the runners coming his way.
The centre-back is usually a calming influence on this Atlanta United defence but with each injury, or for this match suspension in the form of Franco Ibarra, that comes along, the more that defence gets stretched and the more frantic it is becoming.
Add to that the Atlanta back line are still getting used to a new keeper behind them who has come from Mexico so could provide some communication issues and it is a recipe for struggle for anyone in a defensive position for Atlanta United.
That makes me think Franco could lunge in somewhere and get himself booked. He only featured in two of the three meetings between these two last term and he was booked in both of them.
This season, the Argentine defender has a tackle success rate of less than 70% so three in every 10 tackles he makes is a foul. He is likely to be required to make that many in this match if not more with the numbers that New York attack with so he is likely to test the patience of the referee and eventually fall foul of his notebook.
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Prediction: Alan Franco to be Shown a Card
Written by an Andy verified content writer
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NYCFC v Atlanta Predicted Line-ups
NYCFC predicted XI (4-2-3-1) : Johnson; Amundsen, Callens, Tinnerholm, Gray; Acevedo, Morales; Magno, Moralez, Heber; Castellanos
Atlanta predicted XI (4-3-1-2) : Rios Novo; DeJohn, Franco, Campbell, Ambrose; Hyndman, Rossetto, Moreno; Araujo; Martinez, Cisneros
* All odds displayed correct at the time of publishing *
How to watch NYCFC v Atlanta in the MLS?
📅 When is NYCFC v Atlanta? / Sunday, 3rd July 2022, 22:00
🏟 Where is NYCFC v Atlanta? / Yankee Stadium (New York)
📺 What TV channel is NYCFC v Atlanta? / Sky Sports Main Event
🟨 …And who is the referee for NYCFC v Atlanta? / Rosendo Mendoza 🇺🇸
