Preview: Atlanta United vs. Real Salt Lake - prediction, team news, lineups

Atlanta United will be hoping to turn their fortunes around when they welcome Real Salt Lake to the Mercedes-Benz Stadium for their MLS clash on Thursday.

The hosts have won only two of their last seven matches on home soil, while the visitors have won only one of their last eight on the road.

Match preview

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Atlanta's disappointing run of form continued when they suffered a 3-0 defeat at home against Austin last weekend.

Despite dominating the game with 63% possession, strikes from Felipe Martins, Ethan Finlay and Sebastian Driussi condemned the Five Stripes to their eighth league defeat of the campaign.

Gonzalo Pineda's men, who have now won only two of their last 13 MLS matches, currently sit 11th in the Eastern Conference, three points above basement club Chicago and six points behind Cincinnati in seventh who occupy the final playoff spot.

Atlanta will need to shore up their backline if they are to record better results in the coming weeks, as they have conceded at least twice in seven of their last eight MLS games.

They did, however, keep a clean sheet in their only previous home meeting against Real Salt Lake, winning 2-0 back in September 2018.

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After an impressive run of five wins in seven league matches between April 30 and June 19, Real Salt Lake have since failed to win any of their last three games, including the 2-2 draw with Colorado Rapids last weekend.

RSL were leading by two goals after Jefferson Savarino's opener in first-half stoppage time was followed by a strike from Justin Meram six minutes after the break. However, Colorado fought back to rescue a point when Diego Rubio's 67th-minute penalty was followed by an 89th-minute equaliser from Lalas Abubakar.

Pablo Mastroeni's side, who currently sit third in the Western Conference, will have been disappointed to have come away with only a point, and they have now slipped nine points behind league leaders Los Angeles FC.

Much like Atlanta, Real Salt Lake have also had issues defensively as they have conceded in 10 of their last 12 MLS matches, letting in at least two goals on six of these occasions.

RSL lost their first two meetings against Atlanta, but they were able to come out on top in the last encounter, when they secured a 2-1 home victory in May 2019 thanks to strikes from Sebastian Saucedo and Savarino.

Team News

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Atlanta still have a number of first-team players sidelined with injuries, including goalkeepers Brad Guzan and Dylan Castanheira as well as defender Miles Robinson who are all suffering with Achilles problems.

Osvaldo Alonso, Ronald Hernandez and Brooks Lennon are all ruled out with knee injuries, while Andrew Gutman and Emerson Hyndman are suffering with thigh issues.

Pineda is unlikely to make too many changes, if any, to his first XI despite defeat last week, but attacker Marcelino Moreno could be recalled at the expense of either Ronaldo Cisneros or Thiago Almada.

As for Real Salt Lake, Zack Farnsworth (ankle), Damir Kreilach (back) and Bobby Wood (groin) remain sidelined due to injury, while Justen Glad and Bret Halsey are both doubtful with respective hamstring and ankle problems and will be assessed ahead of kickoff.

Johan Kappelhof could continue at centre-back if Glad is not deemed fit to start, joining Aaron Herrera, Marcelo Silva and Andrew Brody in the back four.

Winger Meram and centre-midfielder Scott Caldwell will be hoping to return to the starting lineup at the expense of Savarino and Jasper Loeffelsend respectively, while Sergio Cordova and Anderson Julio could continue in attack.

Atlanta United possible starting lineup:

Rios Novo; McFadden, Franco, Campbell, Wiley; Rosetto, Ibarra; Araujo, Almada, Moreno; Martinez

Real Salt Lake possible starting lineup:

MacMath; Herrera, Kappelhof, Silva, Brody; Chang, Ruiz, Caldwell, Meram; Julio, Cordova

We say: Atlanta United 2-3 Real Salt Lake

Considering both Atlanta and Real Salt Lake have looked leaky at the back, goals are to be expected at the Mercedes-Benz Stadium.

Both teams will fancy their chances of claiming maximum points, but we feel that the visitors will edge an entertaining contest on Thursday.

For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.