Preview: Chicago Fire vs Inter Miami - prediction, team news, lineups

The race for second in the Eastern Conference of MLS could get very interesting on Wednesday evening should the Chicago Fire defeat Inter Miami at Soldier Field.

Heading into this match, the Fire are third, after a 4-4 draw at Toronto, putting them five points below Miami, who drew 2-2 against Atlanta United the last time out.

Match preview

They are consistently coming away with points, but Chicago let a couple more slip through their fingers in Toronto on Saturday.

Gregg Berhalter’s side have dropped a combined 18 points in the league this year when netting the opening goal.

That said, a midweek win would put them within two points of Miami for second, with Chicago currently holding a game in hand on the latter.

Five of the Fire's next seven MLS outings take place at Soldier Field as this team seek a fourth successive triumph domestically at that venue, which would be their longest on the current campaign.

Chicago can claim an eighth regular season home triumph on Wednesday, the most for this club in a single MLS campaign since 2019 (eight).

In four of their five home meetings against Miami in this competition, the Fire have come away with points, winning on three of those occasions.

Inter Miami are quickly falling out of the race for first in the Eastern Conference, having gone winless in five of their last six league fixtures.

Heading into this contest, they are 10 points behind Nashville SC for first, and the latter hold a big tiebreaker advantage with four more wins.

Kily Gonzalez has yet to lose since taking charge of the Herons, and on Wednesday can claim his first away win as their manager and the first for this team domestically as the visitors since July (1-0 at CF Montreal).

We have seen them concede multiple goals in eight separate away matches in the competition this year, including a combined eight in those last two such encounters.

The Herons have scored a league-high 58 goals in MLS this season, while finding the back of the net in their last eight away games domestically.

Miami have points in three of their last four meetings against Chicago, but have beaten them only once before at Soldier Field in 2024 (4-1).

Chicago Fire Major League Soccer form:

Chicago Fire form (all competitions):

Inter Miami Major League Soccer form:

Inter Miami form (all competitions):

Team News

Due to lower-body injuries, the Fire may be missing Jonathan Bamba, Mbekezeli Mbokazi and Andre Franco on Wednesday, as they all sat out of their last match in Toronto.

Maren Haile-Selassie notched a brace in that outing, Walker Zimmerman netted an own goal, while Robert Lewandowski also scored, his fifth in MLS this season.

Over in Miami, Sergio Reguilon has a hamstring strain, Micael is doubtful with a sore ankle, as is Santiago Morales, who has a quad issue, Gonzalo Lujan has a lower leg problem and Tadeo Allende is questionable because of a long term injury.

Lionel Messi became the first player in MLS history last weekend to reach 30 goal contributions in three separate campaigns, assisting on his team’s opener scored by Casemiro, with their other strike coming courtesy of Luis Suarez.

Chicago Fire possible starting lineup:

Brady; Dean, Rogers, Elliott, Gutman; Saletros, D’Aville, Haile-Selassie; Zinckernagel, Lewandowski, Dithejane

Inter Miami possible starting lineup:

St. Clair; Fray, Casemiro, Falcon Caicedo; De Paul, Bright, Segovia; Messi, Suarez, Silvetti

We say: Chicago Fire 3-3 Inter Miami

The attacking quality on both sides is through the roof, and seeing as these two teams love to play aggressively and open, we expect to see the net bulge on each side plenty of times.

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