Nashville SC and Inter Miami face off this Saturday at Geodis Park as part of Major League Soccer’s Decision Day. Lionel Messi and his teammates will be looking for a road win to head into the playoffs in the best possible shape.
Decision Day is the final matchday of the MLS regular season, when all teams in each conference play simultaneously to determine the final standings. This Saturday, Eastern Conference teams kick off first at 6 PM (ET), followed three hours later by the Western Conference matches.
Inter Miami have already secured their playoff spot, but that doesn’t mean their recent games have lacked significance. In fact, head coach Javier Mascherano has continued to rely on his key players in an effort to climb higher in the standings and earn a more favorable position for the postseason.
Right now, the Herons sit second in the East with 62 points, tied with FC Cincinnati, who could overtake them depending on Saturday’s results. That’s why Messi and company will aim to win and lock up that second seed.
Lionel Messi chats with Javier Mascherano, Head Coach of Inter Miami.
Nashville SC, on the other hand, have even more at stake in this final match. They currently sit sixth with 54 points but lead Chicago Fire—who are in the play-in spots—by only two. To clinch direct qualification to the postseason without depending on other results, they’ll need to beat Inter Miami.
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Inter Miami projected lineup
In recent weeks, Lionel Messi has featured both for Inter Miami and internationally with Argentina. Just last weekend, he briefly stepped away from national team training to suit up for the Herons against Atlanta United. Based on that precedent, there’s a strong chance the forward will also play against Nashville SC.
Javier Mascherano’s projected lineup: Rocco Rios Novo; Ian Fray, Maximiliano Falcon, Noah Allen, Jordi Alba; Tadeo Allende, Rodrigo De Paul, Sergio Busquets, Baltasar Rodriguez; Lionel Messi, Luis Suarez.
Nashville SC projected lineup
With a clear goal of securing a win and clinching a playoff spot, head coach Brian Callaghan is expected to field his strongest available squad against Inter Miami. The projected lineup: Joe Willis, Daniel Lovitz, Jack Maher, Walker Zimmerman, Josh Bauer, Tyler Boyd, Bryan Acosta, Gastón Brugman, Alex Muyl, Sam Surridge, Hany Mukhtar.
