Atlanta United face the Columbus Crew in the MLS Cup Playoffs knockout round on Thursday, Oct. 26. Here’s what to expect.
The fourth-seed vs. fifth-seed knockout round matchup in the MLS Cup Playoffs couldn’t get much better. Two aggressive attacking teams with real, hardened tactical philosophies and the personnel to execute them will clash at the enthusiastic (to say the least) Mercedes Benz Stadium in Atlanta. The Columbus Crew meet Atlanta United in a winner-take-all knockout round game on Thursday.
Lineups
Atlanta United:
Tata Martino will put out a 4-2-3-1, headed by an ultra-talented front four of Yamil Asad, Miguel Almiron (returning from injury), Hector Villalba and Josef Martinez. No. 6 Carlos Carmona (usually a box-to-box guy) and No. 8 Julian Gressel might have to pair in central midfield in front of center-backs Leandro Gonzalez Pirez and Jeff Larentowicz. Atlanta’s usual starting center-back, Michael Parkhurst, is questionable, pushing the usual defensive midfielder, Larentowicz, into central defense. The full-backs are the primary weakness, with Anton Walkes playing right-back and Tyrone Mears filling in for the injured Greg Garza. Goalkeeper Brad Guzan has been in good form.
Columbus Crew:
Columbus will also play a 4-2-3-1. Ola Kamara leads their attack, with Federico Higuain distributing behind him next to often-inverted wingers Justin Meram and Pedro Santos. Mohammed Abu is the projected starter in central midfield next to Wil Trapp, but I’m going with Artur because he’s been better than Abu. From left to right, Jukka Raitala, Josh Williams, Jonathan Mensah and Harrison Afful form the backline ahead of talented young keeper Zack Steffen.
How Atlanta will play
By now, you know: Atlanta will be on the front foot and playing aggressively, keeping possession in high spots and pressing heavily with their core of speedy attackers. Through the central midfield of Carmona and Larentowicz, they will control the ball and then dictate their attack with combination play on the left side.
Asad, with 13 assists this season, is the best passing winger in MLS, and him, Almiron and an overlapping left-back form a dominant trio down that flank. To complement that, Martinez and Villalba will dart and move constantly through the channels, pushing and pulling defenders out of position.
Most likely, though, their best chances will come in transition, when their dynamic front four can get out and run. Almiron will carry the ball forward like Vancouver’s Yordy Reyna and distribute to Villalba and especially Martinez, who will mercilessly split the A gap every time:
Mensah and Williams are not the fleetest of foot in the Columbus central defense, so watch for Martinez hitting the space between them hard.
How Columbus will play
As they have been since 2015, the Crew remain primarily a possession-based team. But they’ve reformed themselves in the second half of this season, to where they focus their efforts on keeping the ball higher and getting it to the feet of their creators (namely Higuain) rather than sitting back and circulating it through the center-backs. They will keep their wingers (Meram and Santos) inverted closer to Higuain, giving space for overlapping full-backs and overwhelming the central channels so their No. 10 has every opportunity to move all over the attacking third.
Bad turnovers in their defensive half have decreased with the emphasis on pushing farther forward, and they’ve been able to involve their best attackers more often. Higuain is huge for them:
That’s his distribution map from their 2-2 draw at NYCFC on Sunday. He’s active around the top of the box and he’ll cover a lot of ground for them.
Finishing the chances for the Crew is Kamara, not a hugely active center forward but a guy who consistently finds himself in goalscoring situations. The big concern for the visitors is the backline, which can find itself beaten individually and is especially mistake-prone, with Mensah usually entering games with about a 50-50 chance of making a horrific game-losing error.
Next: The best under-20 player on every MLS team
What to expect
An entertaining battle of high-powered attacks. Both teams are hot and they each possess significant firepower, with coaches who like to create interesting tactics.
Prediction: Atlanta, 4-3. High scoring is the good bet, as is the home team. Martinez will score at least two and Asad will notch a few assists. It’ll be back and forth action with fun uniforms, a great atmosphere and a whole bunch of skill on display. No doubt, it will be the best knockout round game.