Atlanta United v Charlotte FC: Deila looking to turn draws into wins

Ronny Deila wants his Atlanta United side to find a way to turn draws into wins as they aim to make a surge towards the playoffs.

Atlanta sit 13th in the Eastern Conference, some 12 points back from Charlotte FC, who occupy the final play-in spot as it sounds.

Charlotte are Atlanta's next opponents. The Five Stripes have drawn their last three MLS games, though they showed plenty of grit to twice come from behind against the Chicago Fire on Wednesday.

Former Celtic and New York City FC coach Deila understands that Atlanta must find a way to win sooner rather than later, though, given they last tasted victory in May.

"We have to start winning, if we’re going to talk about the playoffs," he said.

"We need to work with our performances. But that’s the season we have had. There are things we have to work on.

"We pressed really well and in the second half we played really well [against Chicago], but still we conceded chances, on transition and individual things we can do better.

"But we don't give up and we keep going and get something out of it. There's a big difference between losing and drawing.

"I think we’re tired. When you press like we do, we need to keep the ball more. We don’t have enough connection to the box, that’s the main thing.

We are back again, a big game for us. If we can get three points there, we are on our way.

"We should have won more than we have done lately, but we need to turn draws into wins to get into the [playoff] situation."

PLAYERS TO WATCH

Atlanta United - Will Reilly

Reilly came off the bench to score his first MLS goal on Wednesday.

It was the fourth goal scored by Atlanta in the 90th minute or later this MLS season with all four of those goals coming from substitutes.

Charlotte FC - Pep Biel

Biel scored twice while having four shots on target in Charlotte's 2-1 midweek win over D.C. United.

The four shots on goal tied for the second most in an MLS match by a Charlotte player with only Karol Swiderski (five in October 2024 v the Fire) having more.

MATCH PREDICTION: DRAW

Charlotte have lost seven of their last eight regular-season away matches (W1), including the last three in a row. Their lone win came in the only match in which it kept a clean sheet in that time (1-0 over Toronto FC), allowing multiple goals in the other seven matches.

Should Atlanta draw again, then it will be their longest run of draws in MLS since a four-match streak between May and June 2023.

However, none of the seven all-time meetings between Atlanta and Charlotte have ended in draws (Charlotte W4, Atlanta W3).

Charlotte have won each of their last two regular-season visits to Atlanta, scoring three goals in each match.

OPTA WIN PROBABILITY

Atlanta United - 39.7%

Charlotte FC - 33.7%

Draw - 26.6%