Nashville SC faces one of its biggest challenges to its club-record unbeaten streak when it takes on Inter Miami on Saturday night in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., in a clash of Major League Soccer powers.
Nashville (12-4-5, 41 points) is on a 15-match unbeaten streak across all competitions and has won five in a row. Their surge has carried them to the U.S. Open Cup semifinals for the first time and second place in the MLS’ Eastern Conference standings following a 1-0 win last Saturday against Philadelphia.
Inter Miami (10-3-5, 35 points) has also been rolling in recent weeks and aims to make up ground as it sits in fifth place in the Eastern Conference following two consecutive wins, which followed a Round of 16 finish in the FIFA Club World Cup.
Miami has won the past three meetings between the clubs and four of the past six, including a 10-9 victory in penalty kicks in the 2023 Leagues Cup final. The other two matches during that stretch ended in draws.
Nashville’s last victory over Miami was on May 17, 2023, and its last win in Fort Lauderdale was on Sept. 22, 2021.
The matchup pits the top two scorers in MLS entering the weekend – Nashville’s Sam Surridge (16 goals) and Miami’s Lionel Messi (14).
“It’s definitely a bigger game,” Surridge said this week about facing Miami. “Philly on Saturday was a massive game. I think that was probably our biggest game this season, and we’ve come away winners of it, and I think we can definitely now take that into Miami.”
Messi made history earlier this week after scoring a pair of goals in a 2-1 win over New England on Wednesday. Messi became the first MLS player to score multiple goals in four consecutive regular-season matches.
“Obviously Leo is a special player. For me, he is the best player that has played this sport in history,” Miami coach Javier Mascherano said after the game. “So it’s unbelievable because how he continues doing things that maybe many, many years ago we thought that maybe we couldn’t see at this stage, no?”
On the injury front, Miami goalkeeper Oscar Ustari experienced some shoulder discomfort during Wednesday’s match. If Ustari can’t play, backup William Yarbrough could be tabbed to make his first start.
–Field Level Media
