Predicting Atlanta United’s Starting XI vs. Columbus Crew

Atlanta United will look for three points at home from Mercedes-Benz Stadium tomorrow night against the Columbus Crew, but they’ll have to do it without yet another defender who has gone down with a major injury. Head coach Gonzalo Pineda will have to cover for the loss of Andrew Gutman, a player Pineda admits has been a hugely important piece to the Atlanta United puzzle this season.

Here’s a prediction for how the team will line up tomorrow night:

This is pretty simple stuff as it turns out, with the main personnel change being Ronald Hernandez replacing Gutman on the left side. Left back is definitely a secondary position for the right-footed Hernandez, and I expect him to almost play the position as a left sided center back.

Because of that, I think we’re likely to see Luiz Araujo again playing a good amount on the left, sometimes swapping with Marcelino Moreno. Gonzalo Pineda is adamant about have a player on each wing to stretch the field when the team is in possession in the build up phase. It’s likely to look something like this:

Got any different ideas? Let’s hear it.