Ronny Deila is continuing to build connections with his Atlanta United squad as they look to return to winning ways following their 2-0 defeat to Charlotte FC last time out.

Having previously taken charge of New York City, Deila returned to the MLS with the Five Stripes, taking over from interim manager Rob Valentino and has equipped well to life in Atlanta.

Though dealt his first defeat against Charlotte, Deila said he was still getting to know his players and is still implementing his style in his early tenure with the team.

"We'll have more width in the squad," Deila said. "They also often get more tired because they run more, same with the wingers. To have doubled up in these two positions is key to keep attacking and keep having good width in our game.

"It's about what we do when we go 1-0 down. We have to keep on doing the same things, dealing with the emotions that we get.

"Don't just start to do absolutely everything different from what we did before, because it was working the whole first half.

"This is what I talk about when doing simple things. We'll be disciplined and deal with changes and things that happen inside the game."

New York Red Bulls, meanwhile, picked up their first win of the season with a 2-0 victory over Nashville SC, with Mohammed Sofo and Emil Forsberg on target in the first half.

The Red Bulls reached the MLS playoff semi-finals last year and have showed signs of recapturing that run of form in their last encounter.

And Forsberg believes that his team are only going to get better after getting their first win on the board, but the Swedish midfielder was not making any bold predictions about what his team-mates can achieve this year.

"It's just getting better and better," Forsberg said. "We are a fantastic team. First of all, the first few games of the season are not going to be perfect, there are going to be some bumps in the road and some misunderstandings.

"But I think we are getting to know each other more and more and I think we are beginning to see that. With the pitch being good, the way we play, we want to play fast football when we turn the ball over.

"The connection and the spirit in the team is fantastic. I think we showed that even though our second half was not perfect, the fact that everyone has that mentality is key. We didn't concede, won 2-0. We take that with us and look forward."

PLAYERS TO WATCH:

Atlanta United – Miguel Almiron

Almiron has endeared himself to the Five Stripes faithful since returning to the club, with his industrious display against Charlotte seeing him win all nine duels he contested.

Indeed, he is the first Atlanta player to take part in at least nine duels in a match and win all of them since Brooks Lennon did so back in July 2020 against the Red Bulls (10/10).

NYRB – Mohammed Sofo

Sofo netted his first career goal for the Red Bulls last time out, becoming the first African player to score for New York since Egyptian Amro Tarek did so in May 2019.

He ended the contest with a team-high expected goals (xG) total of 0.78 from his only shot on target, while only Forsberg and Omar Valencia (both two) created more chances against Nashville than the Ghanaian (one).

MATCH PREDICTION: ATLANTA UNITED WIN

Atlanta have won three straight home matches dating back to the end of last season, including the 2-1 win over the Red Bulls in October. The Five Stripes had emerged victorious in just three of their previous 17 home matches in all competitions (D6 L8) dating back to last April.

That triumph was just the club's third win in 18 all-time meetings with New York (D5 L10). All three of Atlanta's wins over the Red Bulls have come at home.

The Red Bulls, meanwhile, earned their fourth victory in their last 22 regular-season matches (D11 L7) last time out, though they did win three playoff matches in that time. New York have not won consecutive regular-season matches since between May and June last campaign.

OPTA WIN PROBABILITY

Atlanta United – 42.3%

Draw – 26.7%

NYRB – 31%