United to make stadium debut against FC Dallas (Sep 10, 2017)

By AP
Published

Atlanta United return home to open the brand-new Mercedes-Benz Stadium on Sunday, when FC Dallas comes to town for an afternoon match between a pair of playoff contenders.

United (10-8-6) are winless in their last four and entered the weekend in sixth place, just above the red line on the Eastern Conference table in sixth place with 36 points. Atlanta is attempting to become the first expansion franchise to make the MLS Cup playoffs since 2009.

"They're dangerous," FC Dallas defender Walker Zimmerman said of United. "At the same time, I think we can get in behind and create our chances."

FC Dallas (9-7-10, 37 points) is winless in their last seven matches, with four losses. They've dropped into sixth place in the Western Conference and began the weekend just one point ahead of seventh-place San Jose. But help is on the way.

Five players who were called up for international duty this summer -- forward Tesho Akindele, midfielders Kellyn Acosta and Carlos Gruezo, and defenders Maynor Figueroa Matt Hedges -- are expected to return to the pitch for FC Dallas on Sunday.

Despite FC Dallas' recent struggles, Atlanta coach Gerardo Martino knows his team must be sound and crisp.

"They are a team that's very well organized and probably one of the best in the league in my opinion tactically," Martino said this week. "Even them playing down a man in their last game, they were able to cause a lot of problems. They played well in that last game.

"For us, this is one of the biggest challenges we have remaining in the season and that we've had in the past few weeks."

Sunday's match is the beginning of six straight games at their new stadium for United.

"We want to make sure we get off to a good start and make this place a bit of a fortress for the next eight weeks or so," Atlanta defender Brad Garza said. "We have to win. To make this place a fortress. To make this month a good month for us we have to win games. We know that. We know that we have some games in hand on some teams and we have to take advantage of that. We do that by scoring goals and winning games."