The Fire’s Tour de Turf continues as they play their third match in a row in a shared NFL venue – and second in a row on turf – with kickoff 2:30 CT on Easter Sunday.

The Fire will be testing Atlanta’s perfect 2-0-0 record at home as they look for their first road win of the season after getting their second road draw (and point) of the year in New England last Saturday.

Series History

All time: 5W-2D-7LLast Match: May 20, 2023: Fire 3-3 Atlanta at Soldier Field, Chicago, Ill.Last Away Match: April 23, 2023: Atlanta 2-1 Fire at Mercedes-Benz Stadium, Atlanta, Ga.

Recent Form

Atlanta

Atlanta lost 2-0 against a resurgent Toronto FC last weekend, though the team was missing key players, including Thiago Almada and Giorgios Giakoumakis, to international duty. In their last home game, they beat regional rivals Orlando City 2-0 at home, having thumped the New England Revolution 4-1 in their home opener a week prior.

Fire

The Fire went up 1-0 on Hugo Cuypers' second goal in a Fire uniform off a well-served cross from Fabian Herbers but couldn’t hold onto the lead for long, conceding a tying goal just before the end of the first half off a Spencer Richey error in the rain. Neither team was able to break through in the second half as worsening weather conditions and questionable refereeing decisions took the storyline away from the play on the pitch.

The Storyline

Although Atlanta United and the Chicago Fire aren’t often mentioned in the same breath in MLS circles, both teams have ambitious, free-spending owners, and both teams have often fallen short on goals and stated expectations.

Since winning MLS Cup in 2018 in their sophomore season in the league, few clubs in MLS have matched Atlanta United’s ambition or swagger.

Despite the sky-high expectations and spending to match, results have fallen below those lofty goals in every season since. The team returned to the playoffs in 2023, having missed out in 2022, only to exit in their opening matchup against Columbus.

It was part of a pattern of failure in knockout competitions for Atlanta last year, who failed to advance out of their Leagues Cup group after finishing in last place and who were eliminated from U.S. Open Cup competition by second-division Memphis 901 FC in their opening matchup of the competition.

The Fire are in a similar – if somewhat more modestly-sized – boat: Since the 2020 season, the team has spent at similar levels to Atlanta, and yet has failed to make the playoffs.

Both teams have ambitions. Both teams have stumbled in the path of meeting them.

A win for the Fire would send a statement that the improvements the team has shown in stretches of play can translate to better results over last season.

Atlanta Players to Watch

Thiago Almada: When the final whistle blew at the World Cup in Qatar in 2022, Almada became the first active MLS player to win the biggest trophy in the sport. Although he enjoyed limited minutes during that tournament, he has established himself as one of the marquee players in MLS, and one of he best attacking midfielders not named Messi

Giorgios Giakoumakis: The 29 year-old Greek striker joined Atlanta from Celtic early in 2023 and quickly established himself as one of the best strikers in the league, working his way to an MLS Best XI selection at the end of the season. He's dangerous, and if Hugo Cuypers can be his equal or better, the Belgian's name will soon be spoken often around the league. He already has a hat trick to his credit in 2024

Fire Keys to Victory

Fabian Herbers showed exactly how to unlock Cuypers in the last game. (via Kamil Krzaczynski/Chicago Fire FC)

• Over the top: Few teams press as much as Atlanta United have under Head Coach Gonzalo Pineda.  As with every high-pressing team, being able to play balls over the top and quickly committing numbers forward on counters can give chances going back the other way.
• Stuck in the middle: As far as I can tell, the Fire’s game model involves getting balls wide and then sending them centrally for the final pass or cross to score. That can work, but it really only works if you have players on both sides of the pitch who are able to bring the ball centrally. With both Andrew Gutman and Chase Gasper likely out for this match, the Fire are out of traditional options at left back to serve the ball in, and Jonathan Dean, despite his hustle, struggled to get the job done with his weak foot against the Revs last week. Put numbers in the middle, win the battle centrally and get scoring chances that way.
• This is how we do it: Early in the season, Hugo Cuypers was largely a non-factor – not because of any limitations on his part, but because he didn’t have service. This isn’t the only time it’s happened over the past few matches, but the Fire’s goal last week showed the formula – a loose ball won by Maren Haile-Selassie was passed to Fabian Herbers, who played it to Hugo Cuypers in the box for a great chance – and if Cuypers hadn’t turned that chance into a goal, Brian Gutiérrez was in the box as a trailing runner. Keep doing that. That's the formula that unlocks Cuypers.

Panel Predictions

Alex Calabrese

This will be a difficult test for the Fire, but they've shown plenty of resilience on the road against the likes of Philadelphia and Columbus. I can see another tight game, and either a tie or a narrow Atlanta win.

Prediction: Atlanta 1-1 Fire

Jiggly Carollo

"My fingertips are holding onto the cracks in our foundations/And I know that I should let go, but I can't" I said it last week. If they can't go out and play attacking football against the worst team in the league, then we're not making the playoffs. And we sure as hell aren't going to win against a team like Atlanta. And we sure as hell aren't going to stop a team like Atlanta. Being a Fire fan continues to be an act of faith, but the faith could really be tested on the pitch this week.

Prediction: Atlanta 5-2 Fire

Christian Hirschboeck

While Atlanta are 2-0-2 record wise, both loses came against two teams that will seemingly be competing for the Eastern Conference Championship. The Benz is a huge home field advantage, and while Easter Sunday likely will hamper attendance, it will be a tough match nonetheless. I see Atlanta going up 2-0 in the first half, with a Hugo Cuypers goal near the end of the match to add some extra spice.

Prediction: Atlanta 2-1 Fire

Tim Hotze

Prove me right here, Fire. Atlanta have a lot of great parts but they’ve never been greater than the sum of them, and the Fire haven’t had all the points they’ve deserved given the sum of their play. Winning in Atlanta, with the 40,000-plus crowd, isn’t easy, but this isn’t out of the Fire’s capability.

Prediction: Atlanta 1-2 Fire

Match Information and How to Watch

Date and Time: Sunday, March 31, 2024, 2:30 PM CTLocation: Mercedes-Benz Stadium, Atlanta, Ga.Forecast: Indoor temperature with controlled humidity, no winds because its arena soccer, cloud cover irrelevant because its indoors with a small roof opening, which also takes care of precipitationTV: Fox (broadcast), Apple TV - Free