Off the back of a disappointing CONCACAF Champions Cup loss Lionel Messi and co. will be eager to get the Herons back to winning ways.
It is fair to say that the last few weeks have not gone as planned for Inter Miami. A run of three winless MLS games has seen them squander top spot in the Eastern Conference, despite having played more games than all other teams. Their domestic struggles were compounded on Wednesday evening when they were eliminated from the CONCACAF Champions Cup by Monterrey, falling to a 5-2 aggregate loss against the Liga MX giants.
Miami return to MLS action on Saturday with a trip to Sporting Kansas City, knowing that they need a victory to rebuild build some of that lost momentum. Here’s how we think Tata Martino’s team will line up…
Inter Miami predicted team: Drake Callender – Jordi Alba, Nicolas Freire, Tomas Aviles, Marcelo Weigandt – David Ruiz, Diego Gomez, Julian Gressel – Leo Alfonso, Luis Suarez, Lionel Messi
Will Lionel Messi play for Inter Miami today?
As ever, the most salient part of the Inter Miami team news is the status of Lionel Messi. The Argentine missed four games due to injury in recent weeks, a reoccurrence of a hamstring issue that kept him side-lined towards the end of the 2023 campaign.
He returned off the bench in last weekend’s MLS fixture against Colorado Rapids, making an immediate impact with an equalising goal after just 12 minutes of his return. However his showing against Monterrey was less impressive and the 36-year-old struggled to influence the game, on an admittedly atrocious pitch. Messi played a full 90 minutes for Miami in Wednesday’s CONCACAF loss but assistant coach Javi Morales told reporters on Friday that he expects Messi to feature against Sporting KC.
“Messi will be available for tomorrow’s game. We will have to see how he feels today, if he is okay he will be ready to play tomorrow. He finished the last game without any problems, no discomfort and I estimate that he will want to play,” the Herons assistant said.
Who is on the Inter Miami injury list?
The Herons have assembled a rather lop-sided squad for their assault on the 2024 MLS Cup. They have incredible strength in some areas and, perhaps, the greatest player to ever kick a ball. But they also have a relatively thin squad and a series of injuries has left Martino forced to rely on back-up players with worrying frequency.
Earlier this season Inter Miami had the longest injury list in the league. That situation has improved, somewhat, but they are still without some likely starters.
Long-term injuries mean that they will be missing Ian Fray (ACL), Facundo Farias (ACL), Robbie Robinson (calf) and Federico Redondo (knee) for the foreseeable, while Robert Taylor (muscular injury) is also unlikely to feature on Saturday.
There is, however, good news in the form of young midfielder Benjamin Cremaschi, who has returned to the matchday squad in the past week. Cremaschi suffered a sports hernia in preseason that kept him out of the first two months of the season. He is yet to make an appearance this year but could well feature against Sporting Kansas City.
