Inter Miami can set a franchise record for their longest unbeaten run with a win or draw versus Nashville SC on Sunday at DRV PNK Stadium.
On Wednesday, the Herons came back to draw Orlando City 1-1, while Nashville are unbeaten in their last nine games after playing to a 0-0 draw with the New England Revolution.
Match preview
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For the first time all year, there are some positive signs that the team from South Beach may be breaking out of their funk and back on track.
Phil Neville has tried to instil a belief in this team that they can earn points against some of the best teams in the league, and that confidence has shown lately, drawing the second and third-place teams in the Eastern Conference in two of their last three matches.
Five points in their last three games is a small step in the right direction for this team, who have usually been on the wrong side of most scorelines, losing eight matches this year.
Their struggles throughout this campaign goes to show that spending money does not always guarantee success, even with some established international superstars.
For the time being, the mission remains to restore some pride in this team, which was severely damaged when they suffered a 5-0 defeat to the New England Revolution in July.
That defeat seems to have lit a fire in them to smarten up and start playing to their potential, as they have outshot their opponents in each of their last three fixtures and have been a lot better in the final third.
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A team who, like the Herons, were an expansion side last season, Nashville have quickly established themselves as an elite squad in MLS.
Having gone unbeaten now in nine straight regular-season games, Gary Smith saw his defence hold firm against the highest-scoring team in the league in the Revs, holding them scoreless for a second time this year.
It is not unusual to see this team pick up clean sheets, with eight already this year, but they have shown an ability to attack effectively over their last nine games, scoring 16 goals.
Even more impressive is that they have achieved a lot of these results without the Defender of the Year in 2020, Walker Zimmerman, who hurt his hamstring during the Gold Cup for the Americans.
This team have done enough to get points all year long, losing only one game in this campaign, the fewest among all MLS sides.
They seemed to always have to claw their way back into a game through the early stages of the season, but lately, that area has improved, with Nashville conceding the opening goal only once in their previous five fixtures.
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Team News
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Miami will be without Ian Fray, Joevin Jones and Ryan Shawcross, who all have undisclosed injuries.
Blaise Matuidi and Christian Makoun returned to the starting lineup for Miami this week, replacing Leandro Gonzalez Pirez, who had a yellow card suspension, and Federico Higuain.
Rodolfo Pizarro was on the bench for the first time since returning from the Gold Cup with Mexico, and Kieran Gibbs scored his first goal of the season for the Herons, helping them earn a point against their Florida rivals.
He might not be available for the next little while, but Walker Zimmerman was the only Nashville player chosen for the MLS All-Star game, so he will hope to be available for that game, scheduled for August 25.
Joe Willis leads the league with eight clean sheets, Daniel Lovitz made his first appearance for the Boys in Gold on Wednesday since July 17 and David Romney played the full 90 minutes once again this week, the only outfield player in club history to play in every minute of every game.
Ake Loba made his first start of the year for Nashville, playing 45 minutes on Wednesday, while Matt LaGrassa led all players in successful tackles versus the Revs with six and Jhonder Cadiz led the way in terms of shots with five.
Inter Miami possible starting lineup:
McCarthy; Gibbs, Figal, Makoun, Ulloa; Pizarro, Matuidi, Shea, Morgan; G. Higuain, Carranza
Nashville SC possible starting lineup:
Willis; Romney, Anibada, Lovitz; Washington, LaGrassa, Anunga, Muyl, Leal; Cadiz, Sapong
We say: Inter Miami 0-1 Nashville SC
Inter Miami have been better of late, earning positive results against three good teams, but they still struggle to create enough quality opportunities to come away with three points.
Nashville are on a roll, and whether they are playing good or not, they always seem to find another gear and earn a result.
Top tip
Joel Lefevre
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 38.29%. A win for Nashville SC had a probability of 33.06% and a draw had a probability of 28.6%.
The most likely scoreline for a Inter Miami win was 1-0 with a probability of 12.36%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 2-1 (7.85%) and 2-0 (7.3%). The likeliest Nashville SC win was 0-1 (11.26%), while for a drawn scoreline it was 1-1 (13.3%). The actual scoreline of 2-1 was predicted with a 7.9% likelihood. Our data analysis correctly predicted that Inter Miami would win this match.
