New York City FC Head Coach Domènec Torrent has named an unchanged lineup for leg one of the Eastern Conference semifinal vs. Atlanta United.
Keeping faith with a winning XI, Torrent once again goes with a David Villa, Ismael Tajouri-Shradi and Ronald Matarrita front three, with Maxi Moralez in behind.
Yangel Herrera and Alex Ring partner up in front of the same defense which started vs. Philadelphia in the Knockout Round, with Alexander Callens and Maxime Chanot the center back pairing.
Kick-off is at 7.30pm and you can watch the game live on FS1 or listen at NYCFC.com/Radio.
NYCFC XI: Johnson; Tinnerholm, Chanot, Callens, Sweat; Ring, Herrera; Tajouri-Shradi, Moralez, Matarrita; Villa
Subs: Stuver, Ibeagha, Ofori, Amagat, Castallanos, Medina, Berget
Opta Stats
- This will be the fifth-ever meeting between the two clubs, and the first in the playoffs. The two sides drew both matches in 2018.
- Dating back to last season, New York City FC has lost just one of their last 21 league home games, including the postseason (14W-6D). In that games, they have kept nine clean sheets and allowed multiple goals twice.
- Atlanta United won 10 of their 17 league road games this season (5L-2D), tied for the thirdmost road wins ever in a season. However, they did lose their last two road games by a combined 6-1 scoreline.
- Atlanta scored 43 goals in the second half of games this season. Only two other teams had more than 36 second half goals in 2018. NYCFC conceded just 23 second half goals this season, the third fewest in the league.
- Atlanta was one of seven teams to have at least 50% of possession on the road this season. NYCFC led the league in possession at home in the regular season, posting an average of 60.4% per game.
- Maxi Moralez had a goal and two assists against Philadelphia in the knockout round. He was the only NYCFC player this season to have a goal and two assists in the regular season.
- In the 21 games that Hector Villalba started for Atlanta United, the Five Stripes averaged 2.2 goals per game and won 66.7% of those games. In the 13 games that Villalba did not start this season, Atlanta averaged 1.8 goals per game and won 53.8% of those games.
- Josef Martinez (32.0%) and Ismael Tajouri-Shradi (31.4%) both had a shot conversion rate of over 30%+ this season while scoring 10+ goals. Since 2010, there had only been eight other players to achieve this mark in a single season.
- Maxime Chanot won 72.5% of his duels during the regular season, the best rate among players with 50+ duels.
- Brad Guzan (68.6%) and Sean Johnson (68.3%) ranked eighth and ninth, respectively, among goalkeepers in passing accuracy in a season since 2010 (min. 800 passes). Johnson attempted 1,121 passes in the regular season, the second-most by a keeper since 2010.
