Atlanta United vs LA Galaxy: TV channel, live stream, squad news & preview

LA Galaxy head east to take on Atlanta United on Saturday with both sides looking to maintain their push for a MLS play-off place.

Atlanta could go top of the Eastern Conference and second in the Supporters' Shield standings with a victory at the Mercedes-Benz Stadium if other results go their way. In the West, Galaxy are third but could overhaul Seattle and move into second with three points.

Both teams go into the game on the back of away defeats, with Atlanta losing 4-3 at runaway Western Conference leaders Los Angeles FC while Galaxy were thrashed 4-0 at Portland Timbers.

TV Channel, Live Stream & How To Watch

For UK readers, get your fix on the latest football on TV here! US readers can find out what soccer is on TV here!

In the United States (US), the game can be watched live and on-demand with fuboTV (7-day free trial).

New users can sign up for a free seven-day trial of the live sports streaming service, which can be accessed via iOS, Android, Chromecast, Amazon Fire TV, Roku and Apple TV as well as on a web browser.

In the UK, the match will be shown on Sky Sports Football, Sky Sports Main Event and Sky Sports Mix. It is also available to stream on Sky Go.

Squads & Team News

Atlanta will be without the suspended Leandro Gonzalez-Pirez while Mikey Ambrose is expected to miss out through injury. Tito Villalba, Kevin Kratz and George Bello are back in training but this game may have come too soon. Ezequiel Barco is available after featuring for MLS All-Stars against Atletico Madrid in midweek.

Predicted Atlanta Utd starting XI: Guzan, Escobar, Pogba, Robinson, Nagbe, Martinez, Remedi, Hyndman, Gressel, Adams, Martinez.

LA Galaxy will be without Zlatan Ibrahimovic through suspension after he collected his sixth yellow card of the season against Portland last weekend. Diego Polenta and Efrain Alvarez are also banned after they were sent off against the Timbers.

Predicted LA Galaxy starting XI: Bingham, Skjelvik, Gonzalez, Steres, Feltscher, Dos Santos, Corona, Boateng, Alvarez, Lletget, Antuna.

Betting & Match Odds

Atlanta United are heavy 3/10 favourites to win this match with bet365. LA Galaxy are priced at 8/1, while the draw is 4/1.

Click here to see all of bet365's offers for the game, including goalscoring markets, correct score predictions and more.

Match Preview

Sean M. Haffey

LA Galaxy will have to find someone to shoulder the goalscoring burden as they take on Atlanta without captain and top scorer Zlatan Ibrahimovic.

The Swede has scored 16 goals in 18 matches this season, more than half of the Galaxy’s total of 30. Second on their goalscoring charts is defender Daniel Steres with just three.

Ethan Zubak is the only out-and-out striker available but he has only played 40 minutes across three MLS matches this year. Wingers Chris Pontius and Uriel Antuna are the other options, with the latter impressive in Ibrahimovic’s absence against Minnesota United in March.

Whoever comes in for Ibrahimovic, Galaxy boss Guillermo Barros Schelotto says his side cannot afford to lose as they look to recover their form following a run of four defeats in seven matches.

“Our challenge will be with other names on the roster to get something in Atlanta. We need the points,” he said.

“Win or at least to tie - we need to learn that when you can't win, you have to tie. It's not win or lose. You can't win, you have to tie, no loss.”

Atlanta boss Frank de Boer again had to deal with one of his players publicly criticising his methods this week with Leandro Gonzalez Pirez saying he didn’t like the team’s defensive tactics, though he later clarified his comments to mean the tactics deployed earlier in the season while insisting he was happy since they switched to a 3-5-2 formation.

De Boer has refused to confirm whether Pirez will face disciplinary action, but did concede that his comments stemmed from a shared frustration at the team’s recent inconsistency, with five wins and six defeats from their last 12 matches.

“Everybody knows those comments stay inside,” De Boer told the Atlanta Journal. “If there are doubts or arguments, we talk about it like adults here.

“We know how it works in football. We had three players in MLS team of the week. I was coach of the week. This is how it sometimes goes. We have to learn from that.

“We want to improve and want to be on top of every game and at the end also on top of the league, especially in our conference at the end of the season.

“It’s our goal. It’s looking right. We are a team, and we want to be a top team. That means we want to play our best every week.  That’s how top teams work.”