Seeking to climb to the top of the MLS Eastern Conference, Nashville SC travel to Chase Stadium in Florida to face Inter Miami on Sunday.

The two teams meet for the first time in just over a year when the Herons secured a 2-1 away victory over the Boys in Gold.

Match preview

Since being put to the sword 4-0 by Paris Saint-Germain in the last 16 at the FIFA Club World Cup, Inter Miami have bounced back with successive MLS away victories over CF Montreal and New England Revolution in the space of five days.

The Herons came from behind to thrash Montreal 4-1 last weekend before edging past New England by a 2-1 scoreline on Wednesday. Lionel Messi has set a new MLS record for scoring multiple goals in four matches in a row, netting exactly two goals in each game including a first-half brace last time out.

Head coach Javier Mascherano reiterated how “lucky” Inter Miami are to have such a “special player” in Messi, who has scored a team-high 14 goals in 15 MLS games to fire the Herons up to fifth in the Eastern Conference standings, seven points behind leaders Cincinnati with three games in hand.

Thirteen points accumulated out of a possible 15 available has put Inter Miami in a strong position to secure a place in the final series and has also boosted their hopes of retaining their Eastern Conference title, though their mettle is set to be tested in the coming weeks as they face the top two (Nashville this weekend and Cincinnati twice) in three of their next four fixtures.

Inter Miami will back themselves to claim a positive result against Nashville, as they are unbeaten across their last seven meetings with the Boys in Gold across all competitions, winning each their last three by an aggregate score of 8-3.

Nashville extended their impressive club-record unbeaten run across all competitions to 15 matches (W11 D4) when they came from two goals down to beat DC United 5-2 on home soil in the quarter-finals of the US Open Cup on Wednesday.

A brace from in-form striker Sam Surridge and goals from Jonathan Perez, Andy Najar and Walker Zimmerman sealed the comeback win, and a semi-final showdown with either Philadelphia Union or New York Red Bulls is in store for the Boys in Gold, who have moved one step closer to becoming the first professional sports team from Tennessee to win a trophy.

BJ Callaghan’s side must wait until mid-September to compete in the last four and will now shift their focus back to MLS where they have won five of their last seven matches (D2), including their last two by a slender 1-0 scoreline against DC United and Philadelphia.

Nashville finished down in 13th place in the 2024 Eastern Conference, but they now find themselves sitting second in the table with 42 points after 21 matches - five points more than they collected across 34 games last season - and just one point behind leaders Cincinnati.

The Boys in Gold travel to Florida this weekend boasting a six-game unbeaten away run in MLS, scoring 10 goals in the process, but they have failed to come out on top in any of their last four visits to Inter Miami since securing a thumping 5-1 away victory in September 2021.

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Team News

Inter Miami boss Mascherano has admitted that he initially planned to give Messi “some rest” before playing him for the full 90 minutes against New England, and he has since stated that the 38-year-old will ‘need to be given a break at some point’.

Nevertheless, Messi could still retain his starting spot in attack alongside Luis Suarez, while Tadeo Allende and Allen Obando are other options Mascherano may call upon if needed.

Goalkeeper Oscar Ustari is a minor doubt after he picked up a knock in the win over New England, while Benjamin Cremaschi will be hoping to force his way back into the first XI at the expense of Federico Redondo to play next to Sergio Busquets in centre-midfield.

As for Nashville, Tyler Boyd, Maximus Ekk, Taylor Washington (all knee) and Tate Schmitt (hamstring) remain sidelined with injuries, while Wyatt Meyer (hamstring) and Jacob Shaffelburg (hip) will be assessed ahead of kickoff.

Jonathan Perez is suspended after he was sent off in the previous MLS match against Philadelphia, so Ahmed Qasem could be recalled to start on the right wing as Alex Muyl continues on the opposite flank.

Surridge is the top scorer in MLS with 16 goals, netting 10 times in his last seven appearances, and the English striker is set to be joined in attack by captain Hany Mukhtar, who has nine goals and eight assists to his name this season, contributing to at least one goal in each of his last seven games.

Inter Miami possible starting lineup:

Ustari; Weigandt, Martinez, Falcon, Alba; Allende, Cremaschi, Busquets, Segovia; Messi, Suarez

Nashville SC possible starting lineup:

Willis; Najar, Palacios, Maher, Lovitz; Qasem, Yazbek, Brugman, Muyl; Mukhtar, Surridge

We say: Inter Miami 2-2 Nashville SC

An entertaining, end-to-end contest could be in store this weekend between two of the top scoring teams in MLS. While Inter Miami have netted the second-most goals (42), despite playing three games fewer, Nashville currently sit sixth on the list with 37 goals.

The hosts will be considered as favourites to come out on top, especially if Messi retains his starting spot, but it is difficult to ignore the superb form of Nashville and they have every chance of claiming at least a share of the spoils if Sturridge and Mukhtar continue to fire on all cylinders in Florida.

For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.

Written by
Oliver Thomas

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