Atlanta United (8-12-7) will host Nashville (6-13-8) at 7:30 p.m. Saturday at Mercedes-Benz Stadium. The game will be televised on AppleTV, and you can follow Doug Roberson’s coverage on X (formerly Twitter) @DougRobersonAJC.

Nashville manager: B.J. Callaghan

Atlanta United home record: 5-5-3

Nashville away record: 2-8-3

Atlanta United goals for/against: 36/38

Atlanta United expected goals for/against: 40.6/39.0

Nashville goals for/against: 26/44

Nashville expected goals for/against: 34.6/45.9

Nashville key players

Sam Surridge: Eight goals, one assist

Hany Mukhtar: Five goals, seven assists

Atlanta United key players

Saba Lobjanidze: Six goals, seven assists

Daniel Rios: Six goals, two assists

Jamal Thiare: Five goals

Brooks Lennon: Six assists

Alexey Miranchuk: New signee

Injury reports (as of Sept. 12)

Atlanta United

Out: Ronald Hernandez (ankle)

Nashville

Out: Lukas MacNaughton (not disclosed)

What was said

“We’ve had a little bit of a sample size to see what BJ (Callaghan) has done as he’s coming in, trying to implement some different things. There’s an understanding of who the players are. We’ve seen a lot of them in this league. There’s familiarity from players in our locker room who know those personalities and what those players can bring you. Can definitely see that they are they are trying to change things, and that’s going to happen when you have a new coach that comes in. So it’s about, whether it’s the analysis or the data set of what they do well and what they are trying to improve, and where we can kind of exploit those areas.” – Interim manager Rob Valentino on Nashville’s recent managerial change

“It’s all about confidence, and it’s about the way we approach the game. I think that we approached the game in Charlotte with almost a quiet confidence, knowing that we were going to come out of that game with a result, and that it was a direct rival right ahead of us that that actually took three points from us on our home field, and we use that as motivation. So we have to continue to find ways to motivate ourselves and to find motivation to continue to pick up points as we march toward the playoffs.” – Dax McCarty

Officiating crew

Referee: Armando Villareal

Assistants: Cory Richardson and Logan Brown

Fourth official: Katja Koroleva

VAR: Greg Dopka

AVAR: Fabio Tovar

Atlanta United’s predicted 11

Goalkeeper Brad Guzan

Centerback Derrick Williams

Centerback Stian Gregersen

Right fullback Brooks Lennon

Left fullback Pedro Amador

Midfielder Bartosz Slisz

Midfielder Jay Fortune

Midfielder Alexey Miranchuk

Midfielder Xande Silva

Midfielder Saba Lobjanidze

Striker Jamal Thiare

For more content about Atlanta United

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Atlanta United coverage on The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Southern Fried Soccer podcast can be found

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If you are going to listen to the podcast for the first time, please follow it on Apple, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts ... and if you like what you hear, please give us a good rating so we can grow the show. If you have questions about the MLS team, you can email Doug Roberson at droberson@ajc.com, DM him on Twitter @dougrobersonajc or call 404-526-2527.

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Atlanta United’s 2024 schedule

Feb. 24 Columbus 1, Atlanta United 0

March 9 Atlanta United 4, New England 1

March 17 Atlanta United 2, Orlando 0

March 23 Toronto 2, Atlanta United 0

March 31 Atlanta United 3, Chicago 0

April 6 Atlanta United 1, NYCFC 1

April 14 Atlanta United 2, Philadelphia 2

April 20 Cincinnati 2, Atlanta United 1

April 27 Atlanta United 1, Chicago 1

May 4 Minnesota 2, Atlanta United 1

May 7 Atlanta United 3, Charlotte Independence 0 in U.S. Open Cup

May 11 D.C. United 3, Atlanta United 2

May 15 Cincinnati 1, Atlanta United 0

May 18 Atlanta United 1, Nashville 1

May 21 Atlanta United 0 (5), Charleston 0 (4) in U.S. Open Cup

May 25 LAFC 1, Atlanta United 0

May 29 Atlanta United 3, Miami 1

June 2 Charlotte 3, Atlanta United 2

June 15 Atlanta United 2, Houston 2

June 19 Atlanta United 1, D.C. United 0

June 22 Atlanta United 1, St. Louis 1

June 29 Atlanta United 2, Toronto 1

July 3 New England 2, Atlanta United 1

July 6 Real Salt Lake 5, Atlanta United 2

July 9 vs. Indy Eleven 2, Atlanta United 1

July 13 Montreal 1, Atlanta United 0

July 17 Atlanta United 2, NYCFC 2

July 20 Atlanta United 2, Columbus 1

July 26 D.C. United 3 (6), Atlanta United 3 (5) in Leagues Cup

Aug. 4 Santos Laguna 0 (5), Atlanta United 0 (3) in Leagues Cup

Aug. 24 L.A. Galaxy 2, Atlanta United 0

Aug. 31 Atlanta United 1, Charlotte 0

Sept. 14 vs. Nashville, 7:30 p.m.

Sept. 18 vs. Miami, 7:30 p.m.

Sept. 21 at Red Bulls, 7:30 p.m.

Sept. 28 at Philadelphia, 7:30 p.m.

Oct. 2 vs. Montreal, 7:30 p.m.

Oct. 5 vs. Red Bulls, 7:30 p.m.

Oct. 19 at Orlando, 6 p.m.