After failing to score in their first two matches of the 2026 MLS season, Atlanta United will seek a better result to mark their home opener.
Atlanta (0-2-0, 0 points) hosts Real Salt Lake (1-1-0, 3 points) on Saturday, starting a stretch that sees it play its next four matches — and six of its next seven — at home.
While back-to-back 2-0 losses, including a Matchday 2 defeat at the San Jose Earthquakes, may bring back reminders of a dismal 2025 campaign, Atlanta United’s mindset needs to be more positive, defender Enea Mihaj noted.
“I think we have to trust much more our quality individually as a team,” Mihaj said on Thursday. “Honestly, I feel that we doubt (ourselves a bit) and that sometimes (shows up) during the games that we don’t start so good. But I think on Saturday is a big opportunity for us.”
Real Salt Lake, who beat the Seattle Sounders 2-1 on Matchday 2, will be missing a big name from their lineup. Diego Luna, who had nine goals and seven assists in 2025, hasn’t played yet in 2026 due to a knee injury.
The club is taking a cautious approach with Luna’s return, especially since he could be in line to be on the United States’ World Cup roster in the summer, head coach Pablo Mastroeni said.
“We’ve got to be really deliberate as to how we bring him back, so that he’s not only healthy for us in the next month and a half, but he’s also ready to go (for the U.S.),” Mastroeni told ESPN 700 in Salt Lake City on Wednesday.
While Salt Lake’s youth can be a benefit — Aiden Hezarkhani, who scored against the Sounders, is 18, while midfielder Zavier Gozo turns 19 on March 22 — Mercedes-Benz Stadium could present a challenge, Mastroeni noted.
“A lot of our young guys (have) never played in an environment like this,” he said, “(so) it’s really important that we have some really good emotional control in the earlier stages and make sure that we’re a bit more pragmatic with the way we’re playing, knowing that they’re going to really throw the kitchen sink at us to try to get their fans involved.”
–Field Level Media
