On paper, Saturday night’s game at the Plex will be the Independence’s toughest test of the season thus far. Atlanta United’s “2” team visits Charlotte for the first time and has entered their inaugural USL season with fairly lofty expectations: Many have penciled them in as a team that will be full of talent based on their parent club’s strong MLS foundation.

And last weekend, in front of over 5,000 fans, they won their opener over the Baby Bulls of NYRBII, 3–1.

Personally, I’m not sold that an expansion “MLS 2” squad can keep up with the tough USL Eastern Conference. Nevertheless, I think Atlanta United 2’s attack will be the toughest Charlotte has faced in the first month of the year. In order for Charlotte to continue their winning streak, or #Beatless, as we call it, they’ll need to do two things:

Continue to be smart defensively and counter decisively.

Key players for Atlanta

Just because this team is built for development doesn’t mean they are entirely youngsters. Three players they signed bring USL experience and they’re who I’ll be keeping my eyes on.

Jack Metcalf

Independence fans should remember Jack from the 2016 season. During that year, he made 22 appearances and started seven games for Charlotte. Mr. Metcalf was given the captain’s armband for Atlanta’s inaugural game last weekend.

The 26 year-old Englishman patrols the midfield as a central midfielder for AU2. He contributed two key passes, had 53 touches, and won six of ten duels.

A.J. Cochran

Cochran fills the role of the big-bodied experienced center back. He measures in at 6'3" and 194 lbs. The last two years he has played for Saint Louis FC; in 2017, he started 19 games and during the 2016 season he started 27.

A.J. had some pretty good defensive stats last weekend. He made 11 clearances, three interceptions, and won a total of eight aerial duels.

Yosef Samuel

Samuel is a quick, attacking player that also has some quality hair (very important). He lined up as the team’s center forward against NYRBII. In 2017, he played for Bethlehem Steel FC and made 21 appearances for a total of 533 minutes played.

Last year (statistically) he didn’t make much of an impact, but he made himself known quickly in 2018. He notched Atlanta United 2’s first ever goal in style, providing a quality flying scissor kick in the 25th minute of the game.

Insight from the other side

This week, Alex Warren and I welcomed Atlanta’s Jason Longshore to the Talkin’ Jacks studio to discuss Saturday night’s game. He might be the single-most knowledgeable human on the planet when it comes to the Atlanta soccer scene, so don’t miss this episode.

Recent form

Charlotte Independence: W | W

Atlanta United 2: W

Prediction time

Goals will be scored in this game, that you can almost assuredly expect; I would be supremely surprised to not see multiple goals scored in this game. Both teams will looking to use their speed on counters to make their opponent pay.

I believe that Charlotte will have the upper hand in this inaugural match of the I-85 Derby. They’ve played two games this season, won them both in dominating fashion, and I see that trend continuing against ATL UTD 2.

I’m predicting a 2–0 victory for Charlotte over Atlanta.

Game info

Charlotte Independence vs. Atlanta United 2, 7:00 p.m. Saturday, March 31, Sportsplex at Matthews.