Preview: East meets West as Inter Miami host LA Galaxy
Inter Miami welcome LA Galaxy to Fort Lauderdale on Saturday night where all eyes will once again be on whether Lionel Messi makes an appearance following an injury he picked up earlier in the month.
By James Nalton
LA Galaxy were the original MLS Galacticos, and their signing of David Beckham back in 2007 included a clause that gave the Englishman the option to buy an MLS franchise further down the line at a heavily discounted expansion fee.
That expansion franchise became Inter Miami, who have taken LA Galaxy’s status as the Galacticos of MLS. It means that even without Messi, there are numerous players to watch out for in this Inter Miami side, but could the Galaxy cause an upset?
Will Messi be back?
Photos from Inter Miami’s training sessions this week indicate that Messi is back on the field. They provided hope that he could be in line for some involvement in this weekend’s game.
The extent of his recovery from a hamstring injury suffered in the Leagues Cup match against Necaxa at the start of the month remains unclear, but the images of him back on the pitch indicate he could have some involvement in Saturday night’s game.
Coming back too early from such injuries runs the risk of a reoccurrence, though, and with a hamstring strain, it’s often wise to give an extra week to avoid possible further damage and an even longer layoff as a result.
That said, if Messi himself indicates that he is available, Inter Miami will usually involve him in some way.
No magic in Orlando
The upcoming game against LA Galaxy provides Inter Miami with a chance to redress the balance following a disappointing defeat last weekend.
When Inter Miami lose, they tend to do so heavily, and last week’s 4-1 defeat at fellow Floridians Orlando City was the second time this season they have been on the wrong end of this scoreline, having also lost 4-1 to Minnesota United in May.
They have lost five matches in MLS this season, and as well as those two 4-1 losses, there has been a 3-0 defeat at home to Orlando City and another 3-0 defeat away to FC Cincinnati.
Messi played in both of those games, so he’s not always the answer to their problems, though he did miss the 4-3 loss to FC Dallas in April as well as the most recent of the Orlando games.
There was also the 5-1 aggregate defeat to Vancouver Whitecaps in the Concacaf Champions Cup, which further highlighted the team’s defensive weaknesses.
On Saturday, however, Inter Miami will be eyeing a chance to score plenty of goals of their own and recover that goal difference against a team that are rooted to the bottom of the MLS table and have conceded the most goals in the league.
Opposition watch: LA Galaxy
Last season’s MLS Cup winners have had one of the worst title defences imaginable.
They went 16 games without a win at the start of the season, and have the worst defence in the league, having shipped 52 goals in 25 games.
There was a slight recovery in July when they won two of their four games, drawing one and losing the other, but a 4-0 defeat to Seattle Sounders last weekend doesn’t bode well for the trip to Inter Miami.
Losing striker Dejan Joveljić in the off-season in order to remain under the salary cap didn’t help, and neither did the departures of Gastón Brugman and Mark Delgado. The long-term injury to Riqui Puig has also hit them hard.
Amid all of this, veteran attacking midfielder Marco Reus is actually having a decent season, while Gabriel Pec and Joseph Painstil remain considerable attacking threats from out wide.
They also managed to progress to the quarterfinals of the Leagues Cup, which at least gives them something to play for now that their MLS season is a write-off.
Prediction
Whether Messi plays or not, Inter Miami should have enough to defeat LA Galaxy convincingly.
(Cover Image from IMAGO)
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