On a Saturday evening in a city far far away, 11 brave warriors take the field to defend their hometown against the invading 5 Stripe army of Atlanta United. The field has been set, and the location has been determined. The weather conditions are traditional, high winds and rain whenever both teams meet. All in all, this makes for a great match against the leaders of the Eastern conference.
Coming off a heart-breaking loss to the Red Bulls, Columbus returns home to begin a stretch of home games and defend their fortress known as Lower.com Field. In what could be called a learning experience instead of just a loss, the Black & Gold showed resilience in staying in the game and fighting till the end.
With having some Key players out like Lucas Zelarayan, Cucho Hernandez, Eloy Room, Milos Degenek, the Crew will look for some of the younger talent to step and fill those spots. "I do not like to complain about the players that are out, I trust my group of players" says coach Nancy. One take away for the loss last week, "I told my team they played good but one thing that needs to improve is play better under pressure. I have showed them film" says Nancy
Now on the flip side, Atlanta will be without 7 players that got called up by their national teams. The most notable call up is their star Thiago Almada. While the 5 Stripes have been red hot lately, and are sitting on top of the Eastern conference, this will truly be a great match up considering that Columbus has a new identity and Atlanta will be without their rock star.
In order for Columbus to get the results they want, a win of course, there are a couple things that need to happen in order for them to accomplish this. First things First, The Crew need to play better under pressure because just like the Red Bulls, Atlanta's press is similar. Next thing, Columbus needs to be a little cleaner with their passing, cut down on the turnovers, and be more methodical with the passing. Lastly, the Crew needs to dictate how the game is going to be played and not let Atlanta get comfortable.
As for Atlanta the keys to the match for them are fewer. its really simple for Atlanta, continue to do what you have been doing so far. even though they will be missing over half of their starters, the core concept is still there. If they can continue to do what they have been doing, then it will be a long night for Columbus.
You can catch the game on Apple Tv at 7:30pm with MLS Season pass.