MLS PREVIEW 23 Aug 2026: Atlanta-Sporting KC renew rivalry after four years; Revs host NYCFC

Atlanta United host Sporting Kansas City at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in the later of Sunday's two MLS fixtures, the sides meeting for the first time since a 3-1 Atlanta win on the opening weekend of the 2022 season, when Luiz Araujo and Dom Dwyer put the hosts 2-0 up before Daniel Salloi pulled one back and Caleb Wiley settled it late. Sporting trail the all-time regular-season series 1-2-1, having also lost 3-0 at home to Atlanta in 2019 through a Josef Martinez brace and a goal from Ezequiel Barco, with their own win coming at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in 2018 courtesy of Salloi and Gerso Fernandes. Atlanta arrive on the back of consecutive wins, a 2-1 victory over New York Red Bulls followed by a come-from-behind 2-1 win at Minnesota, after eight games without a win, and head coach Tata Martino's side are chasing a third straight victory for the first time in a season since 2021. Sporting, under Raphael Wicky, have gone 1-4-1 since the World Cup break and go into the weekend off a 1-1 draw with rivals St. Louis in which Calvin Harris scored the club's 1,000th home goal; Kwaku Agyabeng and Moises Mosquera are available again having served one-match suspensions picked up against Colorado. Both clubs have been busy in the transfer market, with Sporting parting ways with Manu Garcia to sign Brazilian forward Andre Luiz in a club-record deal from Olympiacos, while Atlanta have loaned out Latte Lath, handed a debut cameo to new defender Paulo Diaz and are reportedly finalising a deal for Breel Embolo, a player Wicky himself coached as a 16-year-old at FC Basel. Alexey Miranchuk leads Atlanta's attack with 12 goal contributions this season and has provided an assist in four straight games. Our model favours Atlanta at 59%.

New England host NYCFC at Gillette Stadium earlier on Sunday in an almost dead-even fixture historically, the two sides level on 11 wins apiece with eight draws, though the Revs hold the edge at home with a 7-3-5 record there. New England won the reverse fixture in Foxborough 2-0 last April, snapping a five-game winless run against NYCFC that had included three straight defeats, while NYCFC won the return meeting 2-1 at Yankee Stadium in March 2025. Since returning from the World Cup break, New England have had mixed results (2-2-2) but come into this one off a 3-0 win at D.C. United built on the first MLS hat-trick of midfielder Alhassan Yusuf's career, and Sunday's game is their last at Gillette Stadium until September 19 as they head into a run of four straight away games. NYCFC have gone 2-2-1 in league play over the same stretch, most recently losing 2-1 at FC Cincinnati. Our model favours New England at 48%.