The 2024 Major League Soccer (MLS) regular season officially kicks off on Wednesday, with Inter Miami hosting Real Salt Lake at DRV PNK Stadium.
Last season, the Herons finished second from bottom in the Eastern Conference with 34 points, while Claret and Cobalt were knocked out in the opening round of the playoffs by the Houston Dynamo, losing that decisive third match on penalties (4-3).
Match preview
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They were the third-worst team according to points over the previous regular season, but coming into 2024, Inter Miami are the early favourites to capture the MLS Cup.
That should be no surprise when you add a player like Lionel Messi to your squad and bring in several key pieces with championship pedigree to complement the eight-time Ballon d'Or winner.
Having a man with an MLS Cup on his coaching resume like Tata Martino will add to the expectations of this team, which captured their first trophy in club history last year (Leagues Cup).
It is a good thing the 61-year-old manager has plenty of experienced veterans at his disposal who can adjust to numerous tactical approaches, because the Argentine tends to go back and forth between a 3-5-2 or 4-3-3 formation.
His constant shifts in approach generated some unpredictable outcomes from this side in 2023 when he replaced Phil Neville, with his players putting on a masterclass in the Leagues Cup but looking discombobulated domestically down the stretch of the regular season.
Miami ended the previous domestic campaign on a six-match winless run and were far from impressive in the 2024 pre-season, winning only once (4-1 over the Hong Kong League XI).
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For the first time since 2019, RSL cracked the 50-point plateau last season, making the playoffs for a third successive campaign.
Pablo Mastroeni continued to prioritize long balls in possession last year and a mid-block when out of possession, a strategy which enabled them to finish fifth in the Western Conference, just three points off of second.
Adding attacking pieces like Cristian Arango in the middle of last season made this side much more dynamic group going forward, scoring five more goals in 2023 (48) than they had over their previous regular season campaign.
Their defensive shape was a trouble spot for them in 2023 as they conceded the second-most goals among the Western Conference playoff teams (50), with the backline turning the ball over often and struggling to contain the opposition inside the penalty area.
RSL were the best away side in the Western Conference last season, winning eight times while claiming a single point on four occasions.
They have not lost their opening MLS regular season fixture since 2009 (2-0 versus the Seattle Sounders), coming back to claim a 2-1 victory in Vancouver against the Whitecaps in their 2023 season opener.
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Team News
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Miami could be without Benjamin Cremaschi to begin the campaign as he is dealing with a sports hernia, Facundo Farias suffered a cruciate ligament tear last month and Serhiy Kryvtsov is still recovering from a sore hamstring.
Ian Fray, Franco Negri and Corentin Jean might all be unavailable for the Herons because of injuries to their cruciate ligaments.
Over the off-season, the club added Luis Suarez, a former teammate of Messi at Barcelona, who scored 17 goals with Gremio last season, tied for the second-most in the Brasileiro Serie A, while Miami also brought in Nicolas Freire on loan from UNAM and signed Julian Gressel, who helped the Columbus Crew capture the MLS Cup last season.
RSL may be missing Pablo Ruiz, who has a meniscus issue, while Erik Holt will be questionable because of a shoulder injury.
The club signed Fidel Barajas, the 2023 Young Player of the Year in the United Soccer League (USL), while also adding Matt Crooks from Championship side Middlesbrough and Alexandros Katranis from Piast Gliwice in the Polish top flight.
Their leading goalscorer in 2020 and 2021, Damir Kreilach, signed with the Vancouver Whitecaps, while Danny Musovski joined the Seattle Sounders and their top scorer from 2023, Jefferson Savarino, moved to Botafogo in the Brazilian top flight.
Inter Miami possible starting lineup:
Callender; Yedlin, Freire, Aviles, Alba; Gressel, Busquets, D. Ruiz; Messi, Suarez, D. Gomez
Real Salt Lake possible starting lineup:
MacMath; Brody, Glad, Vera, Katranis; Ojeda, Palacio; A. Gomez, Crooks, Luna; Arango
We say: Inter Miami 3-1 Real Salt Lake
Despite their age, Messi and Suarez still showed they can regularly find the back of the net last season, and given their history of success together, along with the question marks on the back end for the visitors, we expect RSL to suffer their first opening game defeat in quite some time.
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