NYCFC battles Atlanta United without GK Matt Freese

Both New York City FC and visiting Atlanta United will look to shake off any rust from a two-week break when the clubs meet in an Eastern Conference matchup on Thursday.

New York (7-6-4, 25 points) last played on May 31, posting a 2-2 draw at Nashville SC. The club has fared well at home, winning six of its nine (6-3-0) games at Yankee Stadium or Citi Field. However, New York will be without goalkeeper Matt Freese, who is playing with the U.S. national team in the Concacaf Gold Cup.

Even without Freese -- who's posted six clean sheets this season -- New York will send out a confident group of players, while it looks to avenge a 4-3 setback against Atlanta on March 29.

"We have a roster where we believe we can replace the guys missing through international duty," New York head coach Pascal Jansen said. "All the focus, once we finished Nashville, went into preparing the group that will play -- building chemistry and cohesion with the players who will now have to start or come on as substitutes. Goalkeeper is obviously a big piece, with Tomas Romero in instead of Matt Freese."

The 24-year-old Romero is scheduled to make his New York debut after appearing in 18 games for Los Angeles FC in 2021 and six games with Toronto in 2023.

Atlanta (4-8-5, 17 points) will also suit up for the first time since the last day of May, when it fell 2-0 against the New York Red Bulls. The setback snapped Atlanta's first two-game winning streak of the season as the team found itself in a familiar spot -- suffering its seventh shutout of 2025.

Thursday will mark a homecoming for Atlanta head coach Ronny Deila, who compiled a 46-29-15 record from 2020-22 as the leader of NYC FC and won the MLS Cup in 2021 with the franchise.

For Atlanta, Thursday will be about trying to further itself from the Eastern Conference basement, as United sits only above Toronto (13 points) and CF Montreal (eight points).

"We have to put everything in there now to really finish this spring in a good way," Deila said. "It's a huge game and something we look forward to doing."

Emmanuel Latte Lath leads Atlanta with five goals on the season, while Miguel Almiron and Jamal Thiare follow with three apiece.

--Field Level Media