SCOUTING REPORT: ATLANTA UNITED VS. TORONTO

ABy Doug Roberson

tlanta United (1-0-0) will host Toronto (0-1-0) at 7:30 p.m. today at Mercedes-benz Stadium. The game will be broadcast for free on the MLS channel on Appletv. You can sync

Toronto manager: Bob Bradley

Toronto on road: 0-1-0

Atlanta United at home: 1-0-0

Toronto goals for/against: 2/3

Toronto expected goals for/against: 2.1/1.0

Atlanta United goals for/against: 2/1

Atlanta United expected goals for/ against: 1.9/1.0

Toronto key players

Federico Berndardeschi: One goal

Mark-anthony Kaye: One goal

Sean Johnson: Three goals allowed

Atlanta United key players (stats last season; this season)

Thiago Almada: Six goals, 12 assists; 2 goals this season

Luiz Araujo: Four goals, six assists

Andrew Gutman: Four goals, two assists

Brooks Lennon: Two goals, seven assists; 1 assist this season

Talking points 1. Will Atlanta United keep shooting from distance?

The team took 20 shots, 17 from outside the penalty box, in its victory against San Jose.

2. Can Almada keep producing | doug.roberson@ajc.com the radio broadcast from 92.9 FM through the app. You can follow the coverage of Doug Roberson, who has covered the franchise since 2014, on twitter @Dougrobersonajc.

Here is a scouting report for the game:

magic? Almada scored two worldclass goals to bring his team three points. It will be interesting to see what he will do this week.

3. Will the new faces play? Derrick Etienne and Luis Abram came on as second-half subs and made a difference. Giorgos Giakoumakis couldn’t play because his visa hadn’t been processed. It was approved Thursday night, so he is eligible for selection against Toronto.

Injury reports Atlanta United Out:

Santiago Sosa (suspended), Ozzie Alonso (recovery from torn ACL), Machop Chol (hamstring) and Tyler Wolff (shoulder)

Toronto

Out: Themi Antonoglou (lower body) Questionable: Lorenzo Insigne (lower body) and Victor Vazquez (upper body)

What was said

“I think the positives are many. I think, at times, we take for granted dominating possession (against) opponents. I think at times, it feels

like, ‘oh, yeah’, it’s natural, like, we have more possession than the opponent. And I think that’s not easy.”– United manager Gonzalo Pineda

“I think we all know what they can do with the ball. They’ve got a great midfield. But I think so far we’ve focused on how we can break them down and things like this.” – Miles Robinson

Officiating crew

Referee: Nima Saghafi Assistants: Kevin Klinger, Meghan

Mullen

Fourth official: Sergii Demianchuk VAR: Michael Radchuk

AVAR: Tom Supple

Atlanta United’s predicted 11

■ Goalkeeper Brad Guzan

■ Centerback Miles Robinson

■ Centerback Luis Abram

■ Right fullback Brooks Lennon

■ Left fullback Andrew Gutman

■ Defensive midfielder Franco Ibarra

■ Midfielder Matheus Rossetto

■ Attacking midfielder Thiago Almada

■ Right wing Luiz Araujo

■ Left wing Caleb Wiley

■ Striker Miguel Berry