Three Points A Must For Atlanta United FC At Home
By W. M. Lawson
Atlanta United FC (8-2-3, 25 PTS) come home Saturday to face a hot Philadelphia team. A win, and three points, are needed.
It may seem strange to look at the MLS standings, see that Atlanta United FC currently has the best record in all of MLS, and read that they need three points today against Philly. But, they do. Saturday evening’s match against the Philadelphia Union is the kind that should offer a home victory. Another loss, or draw, could portend trouble.
United, for the first time all year, has gone winless in successive games. Their last tangle was in New England, and ended in a draw. They led most of the match, but then, well, a couple of late controversial calls, and it was (1-1) very late. Funny how that seems to be happening a bunch lately.
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And saying that three points is a must isn’t any kind of besmirchment or denigration of Philadelphia. In fact, they come into this match having won 3 of their last 4, with the last win against Chicago being fairly impressive. Philly isn’t a bad team, at all. Ok. They are a bad team away from their home. And that kind of gets us to the point.
The 5 Stripes will play their 14th match of the still young season Saturday night. With a one point advantage in the Eastern Conference, this is the kind of game that can’t end in only one point gained, or even less, a loss. Couple this with Philadelphia’s less than stellar road record, and one comfortably can surmise that ATL should win this match. ATL UTD needs to win this match at home. It’s not season defining, but it is season constructing.
A third match in a row, without a victory, especially with this match at home, against a poor road team, and conversations about a mid-season stall isn’t tabloid. It could be premature, but it isn’t crazy.
United needs the three points and a win.
It should be a wild scene tonight at 7:30 in The Benz. It usually is when Atlanta United FC is in the house.
Oh, and tonight The 5 Stripes won’t have to blow the roof off. Tonight’s match will be the first with a retracted roof this season. That in itself is reason to get down there and be a part of the chaos.
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Hopefully, it will be a jubilant chaos that comes with three very important points.