MLS: Atlanta United vs. Seattle Sounders Preview, Odds, Prediction

Atlanta United and Seattle Sounders meet on Saturday night at the Mercedes-Benz Stadium. The hosts are massacred with injuries, but they have no time to lament over that. United still has some chances to reach the playoffs, and the team’s focus is pointed in that direction. On the other side, the Sounders are on the verge of the playoff zone. West is very cruel and each point is worth gold for this unit. The CCL champions will finally have their key players at disposal following a long period that saw them struggling with injuries and absences.

Preview

Atlanta United (-105) is without a win for the last three games, but what is more problematic for the head coach Gonzalo Pineda is the fact that his boys haven’t scored for the last 180 minutes. Overall, Atlanta is in a nasty situation with only one victory over the previous eight contests.

This put them in the 12th position in the East, with 25 points in 22 games, but that isn’t so problematic because the seventh-placed Charlotte is four points away with one game played more.

Lack of focus upfront is the main problem. Atlanta has been without a goal in three of the previous five games. As for the efficiency, we’ve noticed that United’s recent home events are mostly with two or three goals, meaning a moderate one. To be precise, the previous five in Georgia were with that efficiency.

Seattle Sounders (+275) come to Atlanta in a very unstable mood. They’ve lost and won the past four subsequent games and posted mixed results prior to that. Brian Schmetzer’s unit had enormous troubles with injured players, but that is something behind them for the moment because most of the absent guys have recovered.

The Sounders’ display’s on the road are terrible lately. Three straight defeats and four in the last five are only proving this. Overall, Seattle is pretty fragile away from their Lumen Field this season, with just three wins since the start of 2022.

Sounders’ road games are inefficient, and prior to the loss to LA FC, 2-1, six in a row were with under 2.5 goals. All of those games were also with just one side netting.

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Alonso, Castanheira, Guzan, Hernandez, Hyndman, Lennon, and Robinson are all out due to respective injuries, and all of these guys have been sidelined for quite a while.

On the other side, Paulo and Vargas are the only two players who aren’t eligible for Saturday’s event.

Head to Head Games

The previous meeting between these teams was in May 2021, and it ended with a draw, 1-1. That event took place at the Lume Field. The last three games were with 2 or 3 goals and both teams netting.

Prediction

Seattle will have Ruidiaz, who is the heart and the soul of this team, and apart from the Peruvian, a few more guys are coming back. That is why we have to take a risk and go with a double chance, draw or Seattle, with the odds on that set at -110.

Pick: Draw or Seattle -110