After a troublesome couple of seasons in Major League Soccer, Inter Miami will be keen to kick the 2022 campaign off with a bang against Chicago Fire on Saturday.
Neither side reached the playoffs last time out, but a top-seven finish should be the target for both clubs this season.
Match preview
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It is safe to say the Phil Neville experiment has not quite worked for Inter Miami just yet. A worrisome 11th-placed finish in his first season in charge will not have impressed David Beckham and co, with the pressure mounting on the former England international.
With one of the most stacked squads in the league, Neville will be keen to find the balance that evaded the Herons last season.
Just 12 goals from Gonzalo Higuain in the previous campaign was not the return expected of the former-Argentine international, but the talismanic forward should be better acquainted this time around.
That spells bad news for the Chicago Fire defenders, who themselves will be under pressure after an underwhelming campaign in 2021.
While they may have finished just the one place behind Inter Miami in 2021, the points gap between the two was a whopping seven, suggesting the Fire have work to do in 2022.
Now in their 24th campaign as an MLS club, the Fire will be hoping to end a five-year hiatus from the playoffs, having last qualified in 2017.
By contrast, this will be Inter Miami's third in the division, with the two teams having only met on a handful of occasions.
Losing the first meeting between the pair in May 2021, Inter Miami went on to lose the second encounter, with the Herons triumphing 3-2.
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After a struggling start to life in MLS, Inter Miami will be hoping that their bumper transfer window holds them in good stead for the upcoming campaign.
Emerson Rodriguez has arrived from Millonarios on an undisclosed transfer, whilst Jean Mota joins the MLS side from Santos for a reported $500,000.
Elsewhere, Leonardo Campana has joined on loan from Wolverhampton Wanderers, whereas former Stoke City defender Ryan Shawcross has retired from football altogether.
A new badge is not the only thing that Chicago Fire fans can look forward to this season, with a number of new arrivals joining the club, most notably Xherdan Shaqiri.
The former Liverpool forward joined from Ligue 1 side Lyon, with Kacper Przybylko also arriving from fellow MLS side Philadelphia Union.
Inter Miami possible starting lineup:
Marsman; Yedlin, Quinteros, Lowe, Gibbs; Ulloa, Gregore, Mota; Rodriguez, Higuain, Robinson
Chicago Fire possible starting lineup:
Slonina; Sekulic, Pineda, Czichos, M. Navarro; Gimenez, F. Navarro; Herbers, Gutierrez, Shaqiri; Przybylko
We say: Inter Miami 2-2 Chicago Fire
Having enjoyed one of the best MLS transfer windows in recent memory, the expectation is high among the Chicago Fire faithful, with hopes that their side can challenge at the top of the division this season.
Inter Miami know more than anyone the struggles of finding a balance within a squad, with the Herons no doubt confident of taking points this weekend.
Top tip
Amos Murphy
Data Analysis
Our analysis of all available data, including recent performances and player stats up until an hour before kickoff, suggested the most likely outcome of this match was a Inter Miami win with a probability of 41.37%. A win for Chicago Fire had a probability of 32.28% and a draw had a probability of 26.3%.
The most likely scoreline for a Inter Miami win was 1-0 with a probability of 10.49%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 2-1 (8.7%) and 2-0 (7.28%). The likeliest Chicago Fire win was 0-1 (9.03%), while for a drawn scoreline it was 1-1 (12.53%). The actual scoreline of 0-0 was predicted with a 7.6% likelihood. Our team at Sports Mole correctly predicted a draw in this match.
