A much improved Inter Miami side will try to earn their first three-game winning streak in franchise history on Friday when they travel to Exploria Stadium to battle their sunshine state rivals, Orlando City.
The Lions ended a four-game winless run in all competitions last Saturday, defeating the Chicago Fire 1-0, while the Herons got by Toronto 3-1 last week to move into 11th in the Eastern Conference.
Match preview
Orlando are back in second place in the East following their third win in their last four MLS fixtures at home, with two more upcoming.
While they remain in a distant second, 15 points behind the New England Revolution, this team are in a comfortable position at the moment, two points clear of the Philadelphia Union and Nashville SC, having played one fewer game than Philly.
A year ago, they were the second-highest scoring team in MLS, but injuries and international absences have forced manager Oscar Pareja to have a more pragmatic approach to their fixtures so far this season, and their attack has suffered as a result.
Their victory last Saturday put Pareja even with former boss Jason Kreis for most wins for the club at 22 in what was a solid all-around performance for his side.
The Lions controlled the tempo throughout the 90 minutes versus the Fire, while they sent a lot of dangerous balls into the box, creating some good scoring chances.
Exploria Stadium has become more challenging for opposing sides to earn points lately, with Orlando only losing twice at home since the start of the 2020 campaign.
Phil Neville has seen his Inter Miami side resurrect a season that looked dead and buried a few weeks ago, earning three wins in their last four fixtures.
Currently trailing DC United by five points for the final playoff spot in the East there is all of a sudden, a legitimate chance that this team can make a move and sneak into one of those post season positions, having played two fewer contests than the Columbus Crew, Atlanta United and the Black-and-Red.
One could say that this team have not faced a stiff challenge lately, beating the Chicago Fire and Toronto in successive weeks, but when you examine their form a little closer, it looks a lot more impressive with 14 points from their previous seven fixtures.
If they want to make the post season for a second year running, earning some wins on the road is imperative, with nine of their final 15 matches taking place away from home.
Their slumbering offence has woken up with three goals in back-to-back games while only being held goalless once in their previous seven encounters.
It has taken a while, but it appears that the veteran presence on this team is starting to pay off, as they look a lot more composed and comfortable than they did over the first half of the year.
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Team News
Orlando backup keeper Mason Stajduhar recorded his first professional clean sheet, stopping all five shots that he faced against Chicago, while Raul Aguilera made his Lions debut coming on for Joey DeZart with five minutes to play last Saturday.
The club are still without several regulars, including Sebastian Mendez, Alexandre Pato, Uri Rosell, Pedro Gallese and Mauricio Pereyra, who are nursing lower-body injuries.
Benji Michel scored his fourth goal of the year last week and is currently second in team scoring, while Tesho Akindele tallied his fifth assist of the campaign, which is a new career-high for him in a single season.
Attacking midfielder Rodolfo Pizarro was named the MLS Player of the Week for Miami after scoring a brace in their 3-1 win over the Reds, as he is just one behind Robbie Robinson for second on the team, with the American scoring the winner in the first half last week.
Ian Fray, Joevin Jones, Ventura Alvarado and Ryan Shawcross were all absent from their match last week with unknown injuries.
Gregore will not be available for this match due to yellow card accumulation and Leonardo Gonzalez Pirez picked up two assists last week, his first two this season, and he is two back of Gonzalo Higuain for the team lead.
Orlando City possible starting lineup:
Stajduhar; Ruan, Carlos, Jansson, Moutinho; Aguilera, DeZart, Urso, Michel; Akindele, Nani
Inter Miami possible starting lineup:
McCarthy; Pirez, Figal, Makoun, Gibbs; Morgan, Chapman, Matuidi, Pizarro; G. Higuain, Robinson
We say: Orlando City 1-3 Inter Miami
Both sides have the advantage of having games in hand on the teams above them in the table, but Miami are starting to score goals at long last, whereas Orlando have only scored multiple times in two of their last 11 matches.
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