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Atlanta United: 4 things to know about the club's push for a plum playoff seed

On Sunday, Atlanta missed out on clinching a playoff berth within the Eastern Conference, falling to D.C. United on the road.
Credit: Internal

11Alive Sports offers a capsule preview of Atlanta United's final push for a prominent seed within the Eastern Conference, as the Major League Soccer campaign reaches the final two months of the regular season (September/October).

On Sunday, Atlanta had a golden chance to accomplish something big in our nation's capital, but a 3-1 defeat to D.C. United precluded this from occurring.

Is it a big deal? Hardly. It's more akin to the notion of delaying the inevitable.

We'll explain it all here.

MISSED OPPORTUNITY ... SORT OF: A Sunday victory would have clinched a berth for the Eastern Conference playoffs (six teams total, top-two seeds get a first-round bye), but it's not a major big-picture concern for United, moving forward.

Why is that? The Grand Canyon-sized gap between United and the current 6-seed (Montreal Impact) remains at 18 points.

In other words, Atlanta could hypothetically fall flat and lose its remaining seven games ... and likely still finish comfortably ahead of erratic Montreal, which sports a dreadful 2-10-2 road record.

So, let's have some perspective on these doom-and-gloom pieces involving Atlanta, speculating on a late-season collapse.

It won't happen.

DID YOU KNOW ... United hasn't incurred back-to-back losses all season. As such, Atlanta remains the only MLS franchise to rack up eight wins on the road.

WHERE UNITED STANDS: The mini-section featuring the Montreal Impact included a droll tone.

The three-way battle among the Eastern leaders, however, is all too real.

Currently, the New York Red Bulls (55 points) would own the No. 1 playoff seed, if the postseason began today. Atlanta, netting zero points from Sunday's defeat, lie just one point behind at 54.

New York City FC (48 points) remains a distant third; but this club might be the greater worry for United, in terms of playoff positioning.

The rationale: As long as Atlanta stays ahead of New York City FC in the standings, there's no chance of United playing a postseason match at baseball's Yankee Stadium–and its poorly retro-fitted soccer pitch.

Why is this a potential problem? Citing the wisdom of Atlanta sports radio host Mike Bell, of Dukes and Bell fame, a narrow soccer pitch precludes United playmakers Josef Martinez (MLS record-holder for seasonal goals) and Miguel Almiron (second in the MLS with total shots), among other dynamic talents, from wreaking havoc in wide-open spaces.

REMAINING SLATE: United has two eminently winnable matches left for their extended road trip, taking on Colorado and San Jose–a pair of bottom-feeding clubs for the Western Conference.

After that, it's back-to-back-to-back clashes with three playoff contenders–Real Salt Lake (home), New York Red Bulls (road) and New England Revolution (home).

The trip to New York on Sept. 30 holds substantial meaning, obviously. Anything short of a victory on that day (for United) would give the Red Bulls a tiebreaker advantage, if both clubs had identical records at the end of the regular season.

The reason: New York knocked off United in Atlanta on May 20 (three points).

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