DC United hope to stay in the win column tonight as they take on Atlanta United at Audi Field. The Black-and-Red were able to get a 2-1 victory in their last outing on Wednesday night, defeating the Columbus Crew for their first win since July 25th.

Battles between Atlanta United have been just that: fierce, tough competitions that lately have ended in stalemate. The previous four matches between these two teams have ended in draws, including a scoreless draw back in March. DC United’s last win over Atlanta was a 3-2 win on the road back in May 2024, and they hope to bring that energy before the home fans.

Atlanta comes in with a bit of confidence despite losing two of their last three matches and sitting in 14th in the Eastern Conference table. They’re currently led by Aleksei Miranchuk, with 5 goals and 7 assists on the season. Miguel Almirón (4 goals, 6 assists) and Tristan Muyumba (4 goals) have also helped the Five Stripes during the season. But, Atlanta’s confidence is boosted by last week’s acquisition of Switzerland forward Breel Embolo at the transfer deadline. The striker debuted last weekend and scored in his first match against Inter Miami.

“I don’t like to make better than he is, but Embolo is the best forward player in our Swiss national team,” head coach René Weiler said of the Swiss star. “He scored his first goal in the first game he played. So we have to be aware about his quality and physicality. He knows how to score goals. He proved it. But I prefer to speak about our team. So when we play how we play [against Columbus], then we will stop him and Atlanta as well. That is one of our targets for Saturday.”

Swiss defender Silvan Hefti also recognized the challenge ahead of the team with Embolo on the field. “Yeah, I think Atlanta is a good team, especially Embolo,” Hefti said. Obviously. I know him from Switzerland. He’s a very good player, a big transfer for Atlanta. So it’s not going to be easy, but we will prepare very well and be ready for Atlanta.”

DC United looks at this match as extremely important given that they sit in 11th place in the Eastern Conference standings with 28 points from 23 matches. However, they have a chance to rise to as high as 7th in the standings if they can get 3 points and see some other results go their way. But to do that, they need to continue to produce goals and hope that production can be consistently there. DC United will have to make do without João Peglow, who will sit out tonight on suspension due to yellow card accumulation. But, they want to get the win to give themselves an opportunity to move up in the standings above the playoff line.

DC United vs. Atlanta United

Location: Audi Field

Kickoff time: 7:30pm ET

Available streaming: Apple TV