Ronny Deila believes Atlanta United are not far from being one of the best teams in the MLS after their showing against Inter Miami last time out.
Deila watched on as his side were beaten 2-1 by the Herons, with Lionel Messi and Fafa Picault completing a comeback win after Emmanuel Latte Lath had opened the scoring.
The Five Stripes boss described Messi as “unbelievable” after his display upon his return to the Miami line-up, though said his squad were not outplayed by their opponents.
Up next 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 edge in front of goal.
“It was an even game, when you see expected goals and touches inside the 16 opportunities, but their chances were more clean-cut chances,” lamented Deila.
“Also, of course, you talk about one of the best players in the world, maybe the best, still – he’s unbelievable.
“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 hasn’t lost this year and had the most points in the league, so I don’t see that it’s a frightening difference between us.
“That’s the good thing. But in the end, we gave them too many easy chances.”
Cincinnati, meanwhile, are aiming to get their MLS season back on track after falling to a 2-0 defeat to Charlotte FC last time out, a game that saw Gilberto Flores sent off.
And much like Deila, Cincinnati boss Pat Noonan was disappointed by his players and their inconsistency in front of goal, something that has hindered their progress this term.
In their loss to Charlotte, Cincinnati had 17 shots, though only seven were on target, accumulating an expected goals (xG) total of just 0.83 along with missing one ‘big’ chance.
“It’s easy to look at the results and think we’re nowhere close,” Noonan said of his side’s start to the MLS campaign.
“I think results aside, we got a good group with some really good pieces that need to better understand each other outside just the game and try to figure out how to work with each other in a better way.
“I think we’ll get there sooner rather than later. But we’ll get there. It’s a tough little stretch for us, just based on results, and I would say current form.
“But there’ll be no excuses, we’ll 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 last time out, his seventh regular-season match with at least 10 shot involvements.
Only four players have more such games since the Brazilian joined MLS in 2023, and he will be out to notch his second league goal of the campaign at the TQL Stadium.
Atlanta United – Emmanuel Latte Lath
Latte Lath has been in fine form since his move to Atlanta from Middlesbrough back in February, scoring three of the Five Stripes’ four goals already this season.
Indeed, he’s the third player in team history to score three of the team’s first four goals of a campaign, after Ezequiel Barco in 2019 and Giorgos Giakoumakis in 2023.
MATCH PREDICTION: CINCINNATI WIN
Cincinnati have won three of their last four matches against Atlanta (D1), including the last two in a row, after winning just one of their first 10 matches against them (D4 L5).
But after opening the season with two wins in all competitions, Cincinnati have won just one of their last six games (D2 L3) and will be looking for a response on home soil.
Atlanta, meanwhile, have taken four points from their first four matches. It is their second-worst start to a season in the club’s MLS history (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 backed against them this week.
OPTA WIN PROBABILITY
FC Cincinnati – 49.9%
Draw – 25.3%
Atlanta United – 24.8%
