The Five Stripes are coming off a midweek trophy raise at Mercedes-Benz Stadium, but it’s right back to work as Atlanta United (13-9-3) travel to the west coast to face the Portland Timbers (11-9-4). With the top of the Eastern Conference as competitive as ever, it’s another big match for Atlanta’s push for the top seed in the East, while Portland come in with great form of their own as they fight for playoff positioning of their own.
Ahead of the major interconference matchup, we broke down the Tools to the Match, presented by The Home Depot:
Focus on Fernandez
There is no striker in MLS in better form than Josef Martinez, but the one closest to him may be Portland’s Brian Fernandez.