Ronny Deila believes that Atlanta United is not far from one of the best teams in the MLS after their show against Inter Miami previous time -out.
Deila watched while his side was beaten 2-1 by the herons, where Lionel Messi and Fafa Picault completed a comeback victory after Emmanuel Latte Lath had opened the score.
The Five Stripes boss described Messi as “incredible” after his display on his return to the Miami-Line-Up, although his team was not over played by their opponents.
The next one is a trip to the TQL stadium to take on Cincinnati, and Deila said he is looking for his attacking players to rediscover their clinical lead for the goal.
“It was an even game, when you see expected goals and touches in the 16 chances, but their chances were more tight chances,” Deila complained.
“Of course you also talk about one of the best players in the world, perhaps the best, still – he is incredible.
“The first goal, we lose the ball in a very bad situation, the best player in the world, and you have a problem.
“We play against a team that did not lose this year and had most points in the competition, so I don't see that it is a frightening difference between us.
“That's the good. But in the end we gave them too many easy opportunities.”
In the meantime, Cincinnati wants to get their MLS season back on track after she fell to a 2-0 defeat of Charlotte FC, a match in which Gilberto Flores was sent.
And just like Deila, Cincinnati -Baas Pat Noonan was disappointed by his players and their inconsistency for the goal, something that hindered their progress this period.
In their loss against Charlotte, Cincinnati had 17 shots, although there were only seven on goal, so that an expected goals (XG) collected only 0.83 in total, along with missing one 'big' opportunity.
“It is easy to look at the results and to think that we are not close by,” Noonan said about the start of the MLS campaign.
“I think that results aside, we have a good group with some really good pieces that only have to understand each other outside the game and try to find out how they can work together in a better way.
“I think we will get there sooner instead of coming later. But we will get there. It is a difficult piece for us, only on the basis of results, and I would say that the current form.
“But there will be no apologies, we will work to try to be more consistent and certainly have better results.”
Players to watch
FC Cincinnati – Evander
Evander was involved in 10 shots (six shots, four chances created) for Cincinnati previous time-out, his seventh regular season match with at least 10 shooting involvement.
Only four players have more of such matches since the Brazilian came to MLS in 2023, and he will be out to note his second competition goal of the campaign in the TQL Stadium.
Atlanta United – Emmanuel Latte Lath
Latte Lath has been in good shape since his move to Atlanta from Middlesbrough in February and already scored three of the four goals of the five stripes this season.
He is indeed the third player in team history who scores three of the first four goals of the team of a campaign, after Ezequiel Barco in 2019 and Giorgos Giakoumakis in 2023.
Match forecast: Cincinnati Win
Cincinnati has won three of their last four games against Atlanta (D1), including the last two in a row, after winning only one of their first 10 games against them (D4 L5).
But after opening the season with two wins in all competitions, Cincinnati has won only one of their last six games (D2 L3) and will be looking for a reaction to home floor.
Atlanta has since taken four points of their first four games. It is the second worst start of a season in the MLS history of the club (two points in 2019).
The five stripes have collected at least five points in their first five games in each of their first eight MLS seasons, but the supercomputer has withdrawn this week.
Opta wins probability
FC Cincinnati – 49.9%
Drawing – 25.3%
Atlanta United – 24.8%
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