Things are looking pretty quiet this weekend from a United States Men’s National Team front as Europe takes an international break for the UEFA Nations League before the start of the regular season across most of the continent. There are a few games for the interested viewer, with the action starting on Saturday.
Saturday
Orlando City SC v Atlanta United - 8p on Fox
Orlando City has continued their hot form since the MLS is Back tournament and currently sit in third place in the East. The club has seen key contributions from Daryl Dike and Chris Mueller during the run. Orlando City are coming off a 1-1 draw with Nashville and defeated Atlanta 3-1 last weekend in a game that saw Mueller pick up his sixth of the season.
As surprising as Orlando has been in a positive sense this season, Atlanta has been the opposite. The team was bounced from the MLS is Back tournament in humiliating fashion, losing all three games and failing to score even a single goal. Shortly after, their coach was fired and now it appears as though Pity Martinez is on the move. It looks like it will be a slow turnaround for Atlanta, but they have several younger Americans to keep an eye on in George Bello, Emerson Hyndman, and Miles Robinson as well as the more senior Brad Guzan.
Other Notes:
- Nick Taitague has seen some preseason action for Schalke 04, who play Bochum at 9:30a on ESPN.
- Sebastian Saucedo and Pumas UNAM face Puebla at 6a on ESPN Deportes.
Sunday
LA Galaxy v Los Angeles Football Club - 10:30p on Unimas
The weekend comes to a close Sunday night with a late start between the LA Galaxy and LAFC in the latest edition of El Tráfico. The Galaxy are are coming off a 3-2 win over the Portland Timbers, have won three straight, and are getting regular contributions from Julian Araujo, Sebastian Lletget, and dual national Efrain Alvarez (who has shown no signs of switching from Mexico to the U.S., but still technically could). Meanwhile, LAFC are coming off a 5-1 thumping of the San Jose Earthquakes, but it was their first win in four games. 16-year-old Christian Torres has seen a handful of minutes recently, which makes for the rare U.S. flavor for the team. The Galaxy won the last meeting two weeks ago 2-0, but were embarrassed 6-2 in the MLS is Back tournament. The games are almost always entertaining so it might be worth the late watch.
Other Notes:
- Inter Miami CF and Nashville SC play at 8p on FS1. Walker Zimmerman and Daniel Lovitz will likely start for Nashville.