Inter Miami will look to make it three straight wins in Major League Soccer play when they take on Chicago Fire this weekend at Soldier Field.

Chicago’s Leagues Cup run didn’t go to plan as the Eastern Conference club suffered a pair of losses to Sporting Kansas City and Toluca in the group stage before swiftly exiting the competition. The Fire came back from 2-0 down against NYCFC last weekend to secure a 2-2 draw and are still alive in the playoff race in the East.

On the other hand, Miami claimed a 2-0 victory over FC Cincinnati last time out at Chase Stadium to clinch a spot in this year’s MLS Cup playoffs. Even without Lionel Messi in the side due to injury, the Herons have still been impressive and will look to continue to rack up points — especially after their Round of 16 exit in Leagues Cup.

Here’s 90min’s preview of Chicago Fire vs Inter Miami.

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Last meeting: Inter Miami 2-1 Chicago Fire (20 July 2024) – MLS

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Current form (all competitions)

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Winger Fabian Herbers will miss the match due to leg injury picked up earlier this month, and he’s exepcted to return to action by mid-September.

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Columbus Crew predicted lineup vs Inter Miami ( 3-5-2 ): Brady; Souquet, Teran, Czichos; Arigoni, Gimenez, Gutierrez, Acosta, Gutman; Cuypers, Haile-Selassie.

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The legendary Messi has recently returned to training with the Herons following his ankle injury suffered in the Copa America final in July. It’s unknown whether Messi will travel with the team to Chicago but you can expect him to make his return within the next couple of weeks.

Miami boss Gerardo ‚Tata‘ Martino will have to shift around his backline after Tomas Aviles was shown a second yellow card — his second red card this season — in the win over Cincinnati.

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Inter Miami predicted lineup vs Chicago Fire ( 3-4-3 ): Callender; Kryvtsov, Busquets, Martinez; Weigandt, Bright, Redondo, Alba; Rojas, Suarez, Gomez.

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The Herons head into this match with tons of momentum knowing they need three points to keep a comfortable distance between themselves and LA Galaxy in the Supporters‘ Shield race — Miami have 56 points with a game in hand and LA have 52 points.

Chicago have a talented enough attack to at least grab a goal against a subpar Miami backline, but the Herons‘ frontline is among the best in the league and will wreak havoc on the Fire defense. Luis Suarez will bag a brace while Diego Gomez will also score to lead the Herons to three points on the road.

Prediction: Chicago Fire 1-3 Inter Miami

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