The preseason is coming to a close for Inter Miami with a rivalry match against Orlando City SC. While these are called friendlies, this Florida derby will be a friendly in name only. These teams play tight fixtures and as Inter Miami will kick off Concacaf Champions Cup play on Tuesday against Sporting Kansas City. This is a game that will help prepare for that and the MLS season kicking off on February 22nd as the start is coming quickly.
Here’s our storylines, how you can watch the match and more:
How to watch and odds
- Date: Friday, Feb. 14 | Time: 7:30 p.m. ET
- Location: Raymond James Stadium — Tampa, Florida
- Live stream: MLS Season Pass
Storylines
Inter Miami: Rolling through an unbeaten preseason, the Herons attack has been performing better with each passing game. They’ve also only allowed one goal in their last three matches. This will be a tougher test facing a team that’s familiar with playing against them, but this has been as good of a preseason as Javier Mascherano could’ve expected. There will be plenty of times when it won’t be this easy for Miami considering that Lionel Messi, Luis Suarez, Sergio Busquets, and Jordi Alba are all a year older. Still, if the preseason is to judge, this team will be hard to stop.
Orlando City SC: After making it to the Eastern Conference finals last season, expectations are high for Orlando City to repeat their feats. The defense has been in strong form during preseason play but will appreciate the tune up facing Inter Miami ahead of their MLS regular season opener when they will face the Philadelphia Union at home.
Prediction
This will be a closely contested match as these are two teams who grind things out but only one team has Messi which is enough to make a difference in the clash. Pick: Inter Miami 2, Orlando City 1
