FC Dallas vs Atlanta United Predictions, Betting Tips and Match Previews

After a couple of disappointing results, FC Dallas bounced back to record a 1-0 victory over Minnesota last time out. Aside from tasting defeat against both Sporting Kansas City and New York Red Bulls recently, Thursday’s hosts have been having a solid campaign. Óscar Pareja’s men aren’t quite as prolific as the two teams around them at the top of the table, though they have been stronger defensively than any of the other play-off contenders. A sturdy defence will be needed when they come up against a strong Atlanta side on Thursday.

If Dallas have been enjoying a solid campaign, Atlanta have been having an excellent one. After finishing second in their first ever MLS season, Gerardo Martino’s men have taken their form to the next level this time around. Thursday’s visitors will arrive at Toyota Stadium five points clear at the top of the Eastern Conference, while they’ll also be heading west off the back of an excellent 4-0 victory last time out.

Given that they’re currently the MLS team with the best away record, it’s not at all hard to fancy Atlanta to walk away from Toyota Stadium with all three points. Having said that, the hosts have been no slouches on their own patch, while the visitors, as good as they are, haven’t been overly impressive from an offensive point of view when playing away from the comforts of home. After all, a lack of goals has cost Atlanta a few away wins of late.

Thanks mainly to lack of defensive organisation/solidity, the MLS is known as something of a high-scoring league – 61% of games have seen at least three goals go in this season – but with these two teams possessing two of the better defensive units, at least numerically, in their respective home and away matches, this could quite easily go against the grain and be a low-scoring affair.

On the road this season Atlanta have opted for a more solid approach, as opposed to a more attack-at-all-costs style such as the one adopted by Los Angeles FC, and such an approach has seen them thrive. Thursday’s visitors have lost just one of their eight away matches during the current campaign, while they’ve conceded just eight goals and have kept three clean sheets. What’s more, in only one of those eight have they conceded more than once.

Just like Atlanta have done on the road, the hosts have defended reasonably well on home soil, or at least they’ve defended well by MLS standards. The hosts have conceded just eight goals in nine matches on their own patch, while they’ve conceded more than once in just two of those.

Ultimately, in a game between two teams who’ve tended to avoid conceding many goals, at the prices ‘Under 2.5 Goals’ a bet that has yielded a profit in 62% of Atlanta’s matches on the road, makes plenty of sense.