Preview:Inter Miami vs Nashville SC - prediction, team news, lineups

The most interesting part of the MLS season starts this week, with Inter Miami entertaining Nashville SC in round one of the Best of Three playoff series on Saturday, October 25.

The hosts will be eyeing the MLS Cup after securing the Supporters’ Shield last season, but the journey to the promised land starts with overcoming the US Open Cup winners.

Match preview

Confidence is high in the Inter Miami camp after finishing the regular MLS season strongly in third position, giving them home advantage for the Best of Three series.

The players have high expectations of themselves, demanding nothing less than lifting the MLS Cup come December 6.

Defender Noah Allen was speaking to the media recently, when he was asked if it would be considered a failure if they did not win the cup, to which he replied: “Yeah, I feel like we have the highest standard in ourselves and we want to win every trophy possible."

The form that the Herons are in suggests that they are favourites to get past this stage of the competition and head into the quarter-finals.

Miami are on a three-game winning run in MLS and coincidentally dispatched Nashville 5-2 in the final game of the regular season last weekend.

The hosts’ record against the Coyotes does not leave much room for imagination, because Inter were triumphant in their last five consecutive head-to-heads, part of a nine-game unbeaten run against these opponents.

Javier Mascherano’s charges are also in decent nick, losing just once across their previous eight outings, winning six in that sequence of games.

With the first and third games being played in Fort Lauderdale, it’s difficult to see anything but Miami progressing through this series, but this is football, and stranger things have happened.

It has been a relatively successful season for Nashville, under the guidance of BJ Callaghan, finishing sixth this term as opposed to 13th last season.

The Coyotes have already secured one piece of silverware this year, but adding to their trophy cabinet will be a top priority for the coach and players.

Callaghan’s tactics and quiet refresh of the squad were largely responsible for the lift in performances, but it is worth noting that the value of the travelling team is almost half that of the hosts.

Those numbers will not interest the Tennessee outfit, but rather those that appear on the scoreboard come the end of 90 minutes on Friday.

Nashville’s away form is cause for concern, as they won just one of their last five road trips, which happened to be the US Open Cup final in Texas.

Before that crucial victory, the visitors were on a horrible run of six defeats on the bounce away from their home base.

Callaghan must find a way for his side to deal with Inter’s attacking threat, namely one Lionel Messi, who is a candidate to be Landon Donovan MLS MVP for a second year in a row, the first time it will be done in the history of the league.

Inter Miami Major League Soccer form:

WDLWWW

Nashville SC Major League Soccer form:

LLLWDL

Team News

Apart from long-term absentees Allen Obando and David Ruiz (both hamstring), youngster Santi Morales is a major doubt because of a knee injury.

Mascherano started Telasco Segovia off the bench in their previous match, but the Venezuelan scored in his 27-minute cameo, so he will give the coach something to think about.

Captain Messi will be pulling the strings like he always does, and is the likely candidate to give the home side the edge after this first meeting, especially coming off the regular season where he banged in 29 goals in 28 appearances.

The Argentine scored a hat trick against Nashville, so he will take some stopping, and even if the visitors somehow manage to keep him quiet, Luis Suarez is on hand to terrify the visiting back line.

For the Coyotes, Wyatt Meyer (foot) and Julian Gaines (thigh) are out for the long term, while Ahmed Qasem is battling an ankle injury and was left out last weekend, so the Swede may not be fit enough for this one.

Jonny Perez has been out of action since the middle of September, and it appears that he will miss out here as he recovers from a thigh injury.

The danger men for the visitors are undoubtedly the pair of Sam Surridge and Hany Mukhtar, with the former netting 24 goals in the regular season, while the latter has contributed to 27 goals for the team with 16 goals and 11 assists.

Inter Miami possible starting lineup:

Rios; Fray, Allen, Maxi Falcon, Alba; De Paul, Busquets; Allende, Messi, Rodriguez; Suarez

Nashville SC possible starting lineup:

Willis; Najar, Maher, Zimmerman, Lovitz; Brugman, Acosta, Muyl; Boyd, Mukhtar, Surridge

We say: Inter Miami 3-2 Nashville SC

This fixture has consistently delivered goals, seven last weekend, and another goal fest should be on the cards.

The home side’s dominance over Nashville in their head-to-head history suggests that Mascherano’s men will get a lead in the Best of Three series on Friday.

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