Orlando City vs. Atlanta United, Prediction, Preview & Odds - 4/17/21
Orlando City vs. Atlanta United
The new MLS season is kicking off this weekend, and we have an interesting clash between the Eastern Conference rivals Orlando City and Atlanta United. The game starts at 3 PM EST at Exploria Stadium in Orlando, Florida.
Pato’s arrival will boost Orlando’s attack
Orlando City finished the last season in 4th place in the Eastern Conference with a record of 11W-8D-4L, even 19 points ahead of Atlanta United. The Lions defeated New York City on penalties in the opening round of the playoffs but lost to New England Revolution 3-1in the conference semis.
This time around, Oscar Pareja’s side is hoping to take a step forward and at least reach the conference finals. In order to achieve that, they brought the Brazilian forward Alexandre Pato, who spent the last season in his home country with Sao Paulo. Pato, 31, was one of the biggest prospects in his early 20s, but somehow, his talent was never fulfilled. Even so, he will represent a major coup for the Lions in the MLS, and with Nani in the attack, Orlando City could do wonders.
https://twitter.com/OrlandoCitySC/status/1382340616571416586
Christopher Mueller was the team’s top scorer in 2020 with ten goals, Daryl Dike had eight, while Nani contributed with seven goals. Dike left Orlando and joined the English club Barnsley during the offseason.
Atlanta is aiming for the playoffs with Lisandro Lopez
Atlanta United collected just 22 points last year and finished in 12th position in the Eastern Conference with a record of 6W-4D-13L. The Five Stripes scored only 23 goals, which was the second-worst attack in the conference.
However, Gabriel Heinze’s team is aiming for more goals this term and also for a higher position in the standings. They added an experienced striker Lisandro Lopez to help them in that intent. Although he’s 38, Lopez can still add quality to this side and definitely improve the team’s success upfront.
Lopez will undoubtedly surpass last season’s top scorer Jon Gallagher, who ended the campaign with just four goals. Gallagher is now playing for Austin SC.
https://twitter.com/ATLUTD/status/1382135467504766976
Atlanta United already opened this season with a pair of 1-0 victories over Costa Rican Alajuelense in the CONCACAF Champions League, so they advanced to the quarter-finals, where they await a better team from a duel between Philadelphia Union and Saprissa.
The Winner Prediction
Atlanta United won six of the previous ten H2H encounters (D2, L2), but they are without a win in the last four (D2, L2), which means the Five Stripes failed to beat Orlando City last season. Both teams had a quite successful pre-season, and Atlanta Utd is in a better competitive form. I cannot separate these sides right now, so I am going with a draw.
The Pick: Draw (+250)
The Total
Atlanta’s star forward Josef Martinez returns this season after he missed the entire 2020 with an ACL injury, so he will be a major boost in the attack. Even though both of Atlanta’s games against Alajuelense ended 1-0, I expect to see goals on both sides here. Both teams scored in three of four H2H games last season.
The Pick: BTTS YES (-132)
