Orlando City vs Inter Miami

Inter Miami’s late push for a Major League Soccer playoff berth continues at Subaru Park against Eastern Conference runners-up Orlando City.

Despite going down 2-0 to New York City FC last time out after back-to-back MLS wins beforehand, Orlando City have already booked a place in the Eastern Conference playoffs. The impending home return promises to galvanize Oscar Pareja’s side, as they’ve won their last four league games at Subaru Park in Chester, averaging 3.25 goals per match. Inter’s cross-Florida trip could flip that script, with Orlando netting under 1.5 goals in four consecutive MLS H2Hs before an emphatic 3-1 win in the reverse fixture in May. Pareja’s more genuine concern is a leaky backline, with defensively fragile Orlando conceding at least once in four of their last five league outings on home turf. But they can draw confidence from shutting out Inter in back-to-back home league H2Hs (W1, D1).

In the meantime, Inter Miami might have lost Lionel Messi to a slight injury problem, but they still put Toronto FC to the sword in midweek MLS action, posting an overwhelming 4-0 home triumph. It was a perfect response to a disastrous 5-2 defeat at Atlanta United in the round prior, and more importantly, kept their playoff hopes alive. With three games in hand on 9th-placed DC United, the ‘Herons’ sit only five points adrift of the Eastern Conference playoff line going into this fixture. But they cannot take anything for granted. Gerardo Martino’s men have blown hot and cold across their last four MLS travels (W2, L2), with each game (won/lost) in this sequence yielding multi-goal margins.