FC Dallas vs Inter Miami – Leagues Cup: TV channel, live stream, team news & prediction

Inter Miami and Lionel Messi travel to Frisco, Texas to take on FC Dallas and Jesus Ferreira in the round of 16 in the 2023 Leagues Cup.

Miami and Messi are looking to continue their red-hot run of form as they hit the road for the first time with the 36-year-old in their squad. The best player to ever play the beautiful game has hit the ground running in Miami, scoring five goals and laying off one assist.

To qualify for the round of 16, the Herons narrowly edged Cruz Azul thanks to a Messi masterclass in the dying moments, a 4-0 trouncing against MLS opposition in Atlanta United, and triumphing 3-1 over in-state rivals Orlando City with ease.

Dallas kicked off their Leagues Cup campaign with a roadblock, losing to Charlotte FC 1-1 (1-4) in penalty kicks. However, they regrouped and rebounded against Liga MX’s Necaxa 3-0 and snatched a late 2-1 victory in the round of 32 against Mazatlan. Sebastian Lletget has found the back of the net twice so far for the Texans and is their top scorer in the competition.

There isn’t much to be happy about for Miami in the series history against Dallas in their three meetings. The Western Conference are unbeaten against Miami, claiming victory twice and drawing once.

FC Dallas vs Inter Miami H2H record (Last Three Games)

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Other than midfielders Gregore and Jean Mota being sidelined until later this season, Miami doesn’t have too much on their injury report.

As Jordi Alba played roughly 30 minutes in their 3-1 win against Orlando City, the 34-year-old looks set to take on more minutes against Dallas and possibly feature in the starting 11. New signing Diego Gomez also made his Inter Miami debut, but it will be hard for him to get into head coach Gerardo ‘Tata’ Martino’s starting midfield that boasts Sergio Busquets, Benjamin Cremaschi, and Dixon Arroyo.

“He [Messi] said that he came to compete, that he came to win things, and he shows that today,” Martino said. “Because it was a clasico; the game was hot at some points, and somehow he is fulfilling what he said.”

Inter Miami predicted lineup vs FC Dallas (4-3-3): Callender; Yedlin, Kryvtsov, Miller, Alba; Arroyo, Busquets, Cremaschi; Messi, Martinez, Taylor.

The Herons have looked nearly unstoppable since Messi and Busquets moved to south Florida. If Jordi Alba is able to start the game, the chemistry between those three would be something to look out for as they know each other so well from their days at Camp Nou with Barcelona.

Since Messi’s debut against Cruz Azul, Miami have scored nine goals and conceded just twice. Goalkeeper Drake Callender has shown his quality and stepped up when his number has been called. Although the game was already wrapped up at 4-0, Callender denied one of MLS‘ best players in Thiago Almada from converting from the penalty spot in the latter stages of the game.

As FC Dallas won in the last meeting, they may know a thing or two about beating Miami but it will be a completely different game now with Messi factored in. Still, they possess quality up front in the form of Jesus Ferreira, who’s scored 10 goals in MLS in 2023, and former Argentina youth international Alan Velasco.

It might be a bit of a test for Messi in his first game on the road with Miami, with temperatures in Frisco expected to break the 100 degree Fahrenheit mark. But so far, Messi has shown he can put his side on his back while elevating the level of his teammates.

Prediction: FC Dallas 1-3 Inter Miami

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