Match Preview: Atlanta United FC vs Nashville SC
Nashville SC and Atlanta United FC enter the month of May on near enough complete opposite trajectories. Through each club’s first ten games, Nashville has collected 16 points, good enough for sixth in the Eastern Conference, while Atlanta sit in 12th, on just nine points.
In fact, Atlanta United has failed to score a goal in over 300 minutes, and they haven’t scored from open play in close to 400. Nashville, on the other hand, quite literally could not be hotter in front of goal coming into this one, fresh off a historic 7-2 battering of Chicago Fire.
On Saturday in the Benz, where the weather is always hospitable, they meet each other once again. Let’s take a look, why don’t we.
Match Details
Date: Saturday, May 3rd, 2025
Time: 12:45PM EST (local), 1:45PM CST (Nashville)
Location: Mercedes Benz Stadium, Atlanta, Georgia
Head Coaches: Ronny Deila (ATL), B.J. Callaghan (NSH)
Referees: Sergii Boiko (REF), Jose Da Silva (AR1), Meghan Mullen (AR2), Sergii Demianchuk (4TH), Carol Anne Chenard (VAR), Mike Kampmeinert (AVAR)
Watch: MLS Season Pass on Apple TV+, FOX
Commentators: Nate Bukaty & Devon Kerr (Apple English), Jesús Acosta
& Carlos Suarez (Apple Spanish), Joe Malfa & Ricky Lopez-Espin (FOX)
Listen: WGZC 92.9FM The Game (Atlanta), WGFX 104.5FM The Zone (Nashville)
Tickets: Ticketmaster
The History
There is perhaps no club more intertwined with the history of Nashville SC than Atlanta United. Their first game at the USL level was a preseason friendly at what is now First Horizon Park against Atlanta United, which turned out to be a 3-1 victory for the Five Stripes in rainy conditions.
Much the same, Nashville’s first game at the MLS level, on February 29th, 2020, in front of 59,069 fans at Nissan Stadium, was also against Atlanta United, and again, the Five Stripes came out on top, this time by a score of 2-1 (Atlanta fans will note this as the match that changed the franchise forever when Josef Martinez went down with a right ACL tear).
In all competitions since that cold night in February of 2020, Nashville SC and Atlanta United have met 12 times. In those contests, Nashville holds the advantage, having won five, with Atlanta taking three and the other four finishing as draws.
At Mercedes Benz Stadium, the Five Stripes have fared slightly better. Two of their three wins over the Boys in Gold occurred at home, those being in 2020 and 2023 respectively. The other two of the four times Nashville has made the 200 mile journey southeast to Atlanta resulted in one win and one draw for the Boys in Gold, drawing in 2021 and winning in 2022.
Last season, Atlanta and Nashville met twice, playing to a 1-1 draw at GEODIS Park in Nashville’s first game after the dismissal of Gary Smith as head coach. Then, in September, after the appointment of B.J. Callaghan for the Boys in Gold, Nashville left the Benz with all three points after beating the Five Stripes 2-0 courtesy of goals from Alex Muyl and Hany Mukhtar.
Speaking of Mukhtar, there is perhaps no player in the history of this fixture that likes to see it on the calendar more. In 11 league games against Atlanta, Mukhtar has 13 goals and assists, scoring seven for himself and assisting on the remaining six.
While Nashville enjoyed success in this fixture under their new head coach, Ronny Deila will be hoping the same for his first outing in this fixture as Atlanta manager. During Deila’s previous stint in MLS with New York City FC, he faced the Boys in Gold just twice, losing one and drawing one.
Injury Report
Atlanta United FC
OUT- Stian Gregersen, Tristan Muyumba
QUESTIONABLE-
Nashville SC
OUT- Tyler Boyd, Maximus Ekk, Julian Gaines, Walker Zimmerman
QUESTIONABLE-
Atlanta United Lineup Prediction
Calum - I expect Latte Lath and Williams to fill in on their returns for Thiare and Cobb. And, that’s honestly it. There’s a slight chance that Ajani Fortune replaces one of Slisz or Klich in the midfield, but in reality Ronny Deila has been stubborn when it comes to lineup changes the past few matches even if the results progressively get worse. I believe he’s hoping that his current lineup implements his tactics really well for one match that will then carry momentum into others, but I’m not sure if that’s going to work.
This team needs change, and here’s my idea of how to do it.
The best Atlanta United has looked on the field was in the very short time when Miguel Almiron was at his more natural 10 position and Miranchuk dropped back to the 8. While it’s not his normal spot, Miranchuk has said he is willing to play there if needed, and his slower movement but smart advancement of the ball would work much better in the middle third than the final third. This will push Mateusz Klich out of the starting 11, but his performances haven’t lived up to what fans have expected of him. So, it might be good to make him earn the spot back or sub on for stability in the midfield later in the match.
Even if this doesn’t end up happening, there are 3 changes I see as absolute musts that Deila might be more keen to consider. The first is moving Saba Lobjanidze to right wing. He’s excelled there this year, but struggled mightily on the left side. If Miranchuk stays at the 10, have Almiron go on the left side. If Miranchuk goes to the 8 as proposed above, there are a few options for left wing. Cayman Togashi is a forward by trade but has also played left wing. He brings the energy going forward and pressing that Deila wants in his system. Young winger Luke Brennan usually plays on the right, but could go left if need be. Edwin Mosquera is the most likely name to start on the left, but his time in Atlanta has proved he is much better as a super-sub to go against tired legs, so I would start Togashi with Mosquera subbing in later. That’s if Mosquera even still wants to play for United after he said he wanted to play for Colombian side Millonarios on a TikTok live.
The second move to make is swap out Ajani Fortune at the 6 for Bartosz Slisz. No matter who starts at the 8, Fortune has proven this year to be more efficient at moving the ball forward in transition and less sloppy building out of the back. Slisz, like many players on this team, just hasn’t been good enough or better than his competition to justify his starting spot.
Finally, Brooks Lennon has to be benched at least for one match. After a great start to the year, his crosses have been wildly inconsistent, his defending has been mistimed and sometimes absent, and he also caused the most embarrassing goal in MLS this year by gifting the Philadelphia Union. Edwards isn’t a perfect prospect, but he showed promise in the first few matches of the season when he started due to injuries and has been solid off the bench since. I believe subbing out Lennon may be one of the most important needed changes of all.
Any combination of my changes proposed above would be great to see in the lineup, because as a writer but also as a disappointed fan, I can see that Atlanta has to try something new.
Nashville SC Lineup Prediction
Ronan- The only change to this one from last week’s win over Chicago is the swap of Ahmed Qasem for Jacob Shaffelburg, and I’ll get to why in a minute.
For clarity, joining Qasem in the attack is Hany Mukhtar, Alex Muyl and Sam Surridge. The three of them, as long as Tyler Boyd remains out, seem nailed-in to the starting lineup when healthy.
In midfield, I’ve gone with the same Tagseth-Yazbek pairing as a week ago, sitting Gastón Brugman for a second consecutive outing. The reasoning for this is tactical. As bad as Atlanta has been frankly in general of late, they’ve been particularly vulnerable trying to play out of a press.
Tagseth and Yazbek as a pairing can run any MLS outfit ragged, and I expect they probably will do on Saturday. This also pairs with my reasoning for leaving Jacob Shaffelburg on the bench, despite an incredibly impressive performance against Chicago.
Shaffelburg is very very effective when given space to run into. I just don’t think that space will necessarily be there from a 0-0 scoreline. If Nashville go up a goal or two, and Atlanta are forced to play more direct, that’s where Shaffelburg would be effective.
Behind them, as has been the case the last approaching a month, is Dan Lovitz, Andy Najar, Jeisson Palacios and Jack Maher ahead of Joe Willis in goal.
Analysis & Game Prediction
Ronan Briscoe- These teams seem to be colliding on almost opposite trajectories, if it weren’t for Nashville’s 3-0 loss away at Seattle a couple of weeks ago. Nashville are flying high, creating chances and (maybe finally) converting them at a good rate.
On their day, this is a team that can pose a real threat to anyone in MLS. But, we’ve also seen games like that one against Seattle, or matchday two against New York Red Bulls, where they get undone on the road. So which will we see?
The road Nashville that won in Philadelphia and outplayed Charlotte for 75 minutes? Or the road Nashville that was embarrassed in Seattle and outclassed in New Jersey?
I think it’s the former. Atlanta have really struggled, particularly in areas Nashville has seemed to excel. There were times in the past a trip to Atlanta without Walker Zimmerman would’ve been a death sentence to the Boys in Gold, but not this time.
How the lineup is managed will be fascinating, there’s a much quicker than normal turnaround for the next game, a home date against Chattanooga Red Wolves in the US Open Cup on Tuesday, so we’ll see. If Nashville can get into cruising altitude so to speak, up two goals or so late, expect wholesale changes.
I think they get the opportunity to do that.
Prediction 2-0 Nashville SC, goals from Alex Muyl and Sam Surridge
Calum Ewing- Atlanta United have lost 3 straight games. They have lost the last 2 games by the same scoreline, 0-3. They have not scored a goal from open play since March 29. They sit 12th in the East on a record of 2-3-5, the worst start in club history. In only 10 games, 19 goals have been allowed. The PPG average of 0.90 is currently worse than Stephen Glass’ 1.00 PPG as interim manager in the disastrous year that was the 2020 campaign. United is 6th from bottom in the entire league.
If it hasn’t already been clear, it is hard for things to get worse.
Ronny Deila has massively underperformed, but it’s really hard from the outside looking in to tell why. He is a coach who has won MLS Cup and has a direct tactical style that fit on paper with the players we had on the team: center-backs who could efficiently play long or switch the field, wingers who could create for themselves, strikers who are dangerous and could press, and active fullbacks. We’ve only seen glimpses of these ideals throughout the season.
There have been a number of players who have underperformed, and that is undebatable. But, there hasn’t been one or two players that can be pointed out as “the problem”. There isn’t anything tactically that has stuck out as “the problem”. That is the real problem with Atlanta United at the moment; there’s no clear answer to the team’s struggles.
Has Ronny Deila lost the dressing room? It’s unclear, as the team hasn’t played with a lack of effort, just poorly. No matter if he has or hasn’t, if he doesn’t get a result this weekend against a high-flying Nashville side, he is at risk of having the shortest tenure as Atlanta United manager in club history. When no main problem presents itself, the coach is usually the first to go, and that might be the case for the Five Stripes.
Facing a team efficient in the counter attack, that case might become reality for Ronny Deila.
Prediction: 0-3 Nashville SC