Head Coach Patrick Vieira is expected a stiff examination of NYCFC’s quality on Sunday afternoon.
In what is being billed as one of the games of the season so far, the Frenchman believes a strong start will be important as his team look to get back to winning ways at Yankee Stadium.
Atlanta suffered a surprise defeat last time out at DC United, going down 3-1, meaning they are two points behind Vieira’s men going into this mouthwatering encounter.
Miguel Almiron has been pulling the strings for Gerardo Martino’s South American-flavored outfit but Patrick believes it would be a grave error to focus solely on one man in red and black stripes.
Vieira told NYCFC.com: “I think it will be a tough game. When you look at Atlanta, with the individual talents they have, we’re expecting a difficult game.
“We will make a mistake if we only concentrate on one player – when you look at all of the players they have up front, all of them can make a difference.
“As a team, they work really hard, they don’t give you much time with the ball and we have to be sharp, we have to be ready because they have talent and can hurt any team in this league.”
NYCFC come into the game buoyed by the comeback victory over Columbus at the MAPFRE Stadium.
It was a thrilling second half fightback from the boys in blue as goals from Yangel Herrera and Jack Harrison turned the tide.
The character and resilience on show delighted Vieira and he wants to see more of that right from the start on Sunday.
“We just have to be consistent in the result and in the way we want to play,” Vieira remarked.
“The second half in Columbus really pleased me because we were brave, we pressed them really high and we managed to win the ball higher which gave us more chances of creating opportunities and scoring goals.
“Our mindset has to be right from the start of the game and I think if we manage to do that, we will be good.”
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