PREVIEW: Charlotte FC vs. Atlanta United

[Music] [Applause] [Music] hey everyone welcome to the mint City soccer show I'm your host David Guster and we have a special preview episode today of our show no Matt Swift no Cory enco but that's okay cuz we're here to break down our opponent this weekend which is that City Atlanta United but before we dive in we have a quick message from our friends at [Music] manscape fellas do you want your grooming routine to be a oneandone deal well the days of using the same trimmer for your face and your private parts are over thanks to our friends at manscape they've come up with the ultimate package to keep your hairs trimmed from 12 to 6 introducing the beard and balls bundle featuring the lawn mower 5.0 and the beard hedger a trimmer for the money maker and another for the boys downstairs so get 20% off plus free shipping with the code corn dog at manscape.com remember that's 20% off plus free shipping with our code corn dog which is still amazing they let us use that code at manscape.com go there for all your premium grooming experience and Trust manscape [Music] now let's get back to the pitch in Charlotte so as Charlotte fans head into Match Day 27 Charlotte finds themselves on a on a strange form of late while this stretch of games does not does does incl include recent lease Cup matches Charlotte has Drew four of their last five matches with their only defeat being at the hands of the Philadelphia Union during leag cup they have drew against Columbus Austin Cruz aul and most recently New York Red Bulls this is very reminiscent of last year's performance with former manager Christian latonio at the helm for those fans that remember we used to go through long stretches of games with draws and at that time we were pretty happy to have some draws versus just losses but I have a good feeling about today's match will break that trend for Dean Smith and the boys Charlotte's last two matches against Atlanta United have ended up in a result that's positive for the crown three points in both matches while in Atlanta and all time Charlotte leads the series with three wins and two losses we've only won one time at home and that's thanks to yordi alvar's goal where Brad guzan blamed it on a breeze for those fans who remember but that was all the way back in 2022 so can Charlotte get three points today in the bank and break that streak of losing at home or drawing at home against Atlanta United I sure hope so so Charlotte's added some weapons since the last time they played in Atlanta DP Striker Carol swerski is back in the lineup for the crown with added weapons like pep be in the Midfield and they've also added experienced and National men's team player at Center back with Tim reene it'll be exciting to watch if pep is able to start for the crown today he's our latest designated player who for a lot of fans wasn't expected either by myself by a lot of fans to even be on the game day roster last week but to our surprise he was able to coming as a late sub after securing his Visa very quickly to be able to get minutes for the crown coach Dean Smith is not confirmed a Phil start today but many fans are excited to see him possibly linking up with Carol abata on that attack uh against Atlanta this week for those who missed it last week there were some exciting potential plays with him while they didn't result in a draw or any points or um assist he at least showed some attacking wherewithal and also being able to have some nice touch on the ball in the middle of the field Charlotte may also see a familiar face today in Bank of America and that is Daniel Rios who is currently on loan from guadalahara it has appeared in 16 games with six goals so far for Atlanta he is one goal away from tying his total goal contribution at seven while he was at Charlotte FC fans remember Ros for his holdup play and being able to poach some shots from inside the box it will be a key matchup to watch for myself if he does start for Atlanta milanda and re could possibly have their hands full with Rios having a player like Saba up top and Rios could really cause some chaos for Charlotte on that defensive line table wise Charlotte sits at the sixth spot with 38 points right now Orlando's been creeping up in that seventh spot with 34 points Charlotte really needs to capitalize in three points today to keep that lead ahead of Orlando and if we want to try to get that fifth or even fourth spot overall Atlanta on the other hand has had a kind of an off season compared to their early franchise success currently sitting at the ninth place with 28 points and for those Charlotte fans who remember that is kind of that play in game right now where they're currently are at in the playoffs so I'm sure Atlanta fans would love to be able to get three points on the road here steal some points and be able to get that much closer to getting that eighth or even Seventh Place seed before the end of the season so it's GNA be very important for Charlotte to be able to capitalize on those three points on the road today I don't know about you but I have a pretty good feeling looking forward to this we have some new attacking weapons we have a very solid defense we have depth in all of our positions now Charlotte is really set up for success and to be able to get points in Charlotte today against Atlanta United I'm going to go on record and say that we win two to one I would love to see pep be able to get his first goal contribution against Atlanta United at home love to see abata be able to score a goal and then I do think Daniel Rios gets some revenge against us scores a goal But ultimately I feel that we still win two to one and grab three points thanks again everyone hopefully we have a great day today see you at the tail see you at the game and let's go get three points today [Music] [Applause] [Music]