Atlanta United’s final three-match road swing of the season begins this weekend when it travels north to Foxborough to take on the New England Revolution. While both teams are eliminated from playoff contention this season, the 5-Stripes are looking for a second road win of the season. After showing improvement last weekend against one of the top teams in the Western Conference, Atlanta is looking to turn that momentum into three points Saturday. New England is trying to close out the season on a positive note after letting go of its coach a couple weeks ago. Let’s take a look at the Tools to the Match presented by Home Depot against New England Revolution.
Be more efficient offensively
Last weekend’s 1-1 draw against San Diego seemed to be a microcosm of how this season has gone for Atlanta. The team played well at times, created a lot of quality scoring opportunities, yet only found the back of the net through a penalty kick.while a defensive error allowed San Diego to get on the board for the draw. Atlanta has had the Expected Goals (xG) advantage in 16 of its 30 matches this season, but has only won three of those games. The team has to work on that efficiency in the attack to close out this season. Atlanta’s xG on the season is 51.9, yet it has only scored 37 goals. Especially on the road, you have to take the chances that present themselves.
New coach, same Carles Gil
The Revolution made a coaching change a couple of weeks ago with Pablo Moreira stepping in as interim coach to close out this season. The team hung in tough against the Philadelphia Union last weekend, losing just 1-0 through a goal in the final 15 minutes of the match. The attack has been the main issue once again for New England this season as they have only scored 39 goals on the year. That low goal total comes despite having one of the best attacking midfielders of the last several years in their ranks in Carles Gil. The Spaniard has once again excelled with 10 goals and 11 assists. He’s also been a thorn in Atlanta’s side with nine goal contributions in 10 regular season matches against the 5-Stripes. Atlanta has to limit Gil’s influence on the match if it wants to come away victorious.
Create more big chances
One area where Atlanta United has excelled at this season is converting big chances. In those scenarios, the 5-Stripes convert 73.7% of big chances into goals. That’s the second-highest percentage in the entire league coming into this weekend. What they need to work on now is creating more big chances in every match. Atlanta ranks 25th in MLS in terms of total big chances created. Ronny Deila made some tweaks in the formation last time out and they seemed to spark the attack. Saturday’s match will come down to creating and ultimately finishing those chances to put New England under pressure in front of their fans.
Fans can tune in on MLS Season Pass on Apple TV on Saturday night at 7:30 p.m. ET when the action kicks off at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Mass. To hear the action on radio, tune into Sports Radio 92.9 The Game (English) or La Mejor – AM 1600 (Spanish).
