Predicting Atlanta United’s starting lineup vs. NYCFC

After a gritty 1-0 win on the road against NYCFC last week, Atlanta United looks to put on another good performance at home to solidify their spot in the Eastern Conference Finals. Tito Villalba exited the previous match with an injury and Jeff Larentowicz is officially questionable for Sunday. How do these details affect the lineup prediction? Let’s try and figure that out.

Here is the definite, surefire lineup for Nov. 11*

*I’m probably wrong.

Formation: 4-3-3. It gets more and more pointless to predict this aspect of the lineup because Atlanta switches between two formations on a whim throughout a match. On paper though, I’ll say 4-3-3 because that’s what it was on paper last week and it worked (shrug emoji).

Goalkeeper: Brad Guzan.

Left Back: Greg Garza. Man, what a difference he makes. The overlapping attacks coming from the left are so much more fluid with Garza in.

Center Back #1: Leandro Gonzalez Pirez.

Center Back #2: Michael Parkhurst.

Right Back: Franco Escobar.

Central Midfielder #1: Jeff Larentowicz. This important of a match needs a veteran presence in the midfield. If he’s even at 75% fitness, he’ll start...I think.

Central Midfielder #2: Eric Remedi.

Attacking Midfielder: Darlington Nagbe.

Left Winger: Miguel Almiron. I almost feel like I’m falsely advertising the lineup because Almiron will most definitely drop into midfield throughout the match. However, we’ve seen how often he drifts to the left side of the field with possession, so expect more of that.

Right Winger: Julian Gressel. I think Villalba is still working his way back into full fitness after only playing roughly 40 minutes last match before exiting with an injury. Expect another second half appearance from him.

Striker: Josef Martinez.

To recap, here’s my projected lineup against NYCFC.

What do you think? Let us know in the comments.