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Atlanta United will see if they can figure out life after Thiago Almada on Saturday when they visit CF Montreal.

On July 6, Atlanta United announced a record transfer of the star midfielder to Botafogo in Brazil. A move out of Atlanta was expected for the young Argentinian phenom.

In the two matches since Almada’s finale June 29, Atlanta (6-10-6, 24 points) has two away losses in league play. Those losses have Atlanta United in 10th place in the Eastern Conference, on the outside of the playoffs looking in.

Included in that stretch was a 5-2 defeat to Real Salt Lake. After allowing a goal in the first minute, Atlanta tied the match in the first half before allowing four goals in the final 31 minutes — three from set pieces.

“If it’s a lot of good passes and breaking us down and side-to-side, that’s somewhat acceptable and you can say fair play,” interim head coach Rob Valentino said. “But it’s not acceptable, nowhere near good enough, three goals like that from set pieces.”

Making matters worse for Atlanta is a shoulder injury for Jamal Thiare. The Senegalese goal-scorer won’t play Saturday, recovering for the next two to four weeks.

That means potentially more playing time for Daniel Rios. The forward has four goals in Atlanta’s last six league matches. Rios played Wednesday in a U.S. Open Cup defeat to Indy Eleven, but only 18 minutes off the bench.

For CF Montreal (5-9-8, 23 points), a return from injury — and Copa America duty with Costa Rica — for Ariel Lassiter gives the home side an advantage. Lassiter leads Montreal with eight goal contributions (three goals, five assists).

Against Vancouver on July 6, Lassiter returned, taking three shots in a 1-1 draw. The point was salvaged by a 79th minute goal by Matias Coccaro. The performance showed Montreal can fight but needs to give more.

“There was a lack of intention to create more chaos. You can’t always try to be perfect,” head coach Laurent Courtois said. “There are times when we stop playing or give up careless goals. There are times when the halves don’t resemble each other.”

Montreal sits one point behind Atlanta in the conference standings. However, each team has a game in hand on ninth-place Toronto FC, giving Saturday’s winner the edge.

–Field Level Media