The pressure is on Atlanta United after another loss, and they must win if they want to stay alive in Leagues Cup as they will face a Pumas squad that are determined to add more points this Saturday at Inter&Co Stadium at 8:30 p.m. ET on MLS Season Pass via Apple TV.
Ronny Deila and the rest of his team are really feeling it after another devastating loss in the year, when Club Necaxa dominated them in their first game of the tournament. These past couple of months have been very complicated for Atlanta, as their last win came on May 28 and whether it is not holding on to leads or falling short on comebacks, the backline has been the main problem and changes are expected once again.
Pumas should take advantage of this with their speedy players like Álvaro Angulo, Pedro Vite and Adalberto Carrasquilla who scored against Orlando City in their tournament opener. Even though Atlanta United has gotten eight goals in their last five games, the fact that Keylor Navas is now the Universitarios goalkeeper needs to be considered.
The Costa Rica international brings experience that has been showed already as he had a clean sheet in his Liga MX debut with the team and only allowed one goal in his Leagues Cup debut; Pumas had allowed six goals in their first two games in the semester without Navas.
While Pumas is the favorite in this one, there is no question that Atlanta United will present a very tough challenge for them as they are in a must-win situation trying to stay alive in a prestigious international tournament that gives a very important ticket to the Concacaf Champions Cup.