As entertaining as Lionel Messi has been
A budding MLS rivalry is renewed Saturday when Inter Miami hosts Orlando City in an all-Florida match. Our MLS odds obviously put Inter Miami in favor of the win at Chase Stadium.
Inter Miami needed a bit of magic from Lionel Messi to secure a draw last weekend against the LA Galaxy, with his stoppage-time goal tying the score 1-1. However, fatigue is already a factor for Messi and Luis Suarez, and they will be grateful to be back home, where Inter Miami has recorded just one loss in its last nine regular-season games.
For Orlando City, the road trip has produced strong effects dating back to last season. They have lost just once in their last 8 away games in MLS and have already secured a 3-0 win over Canadian side Valary FC in the CONCACAF Champions League. Although this is their third game in 8 days, they expect the short south to be enjoyable.
Our flexible betting picks between Inter Miami and Orlando City for Saturday, March 2 explain why the visitors could be the happier of the two groups when the final whistle blows.
When Lionel Messi joined Inter Miami last season, many defenses seemed terrified. They pulled away as he picked up the ball, hoping to stay between him and his goal, leaving acres of space for Messi and Sergio Busquets to operate.
Orlando City took a completely different approach. Instead of retiring, they went after Messi. Although there were no results in his favor (the Argentinian magician played man of the match with two goals), he obviously felt it. in the following games.
While he was only credited with 4 official fouls in 68 touches, he relentlessly battered all night. He even lost his cool, was cautioned in the 21st minute and was a bit lucky that some of his next retaliatory moves were not punished further.
As the season progressed, Messi began to show signs of tiredness, partly because of the heavy congestion of matches and partly because of all the concern in MLS. And now, after a pre-season that took them to China and a cross-country holiday in the second week, that already comes into play.
On Friday, at Inter Miami head coach Tata Martino’s press conference, he highlighted only the already established tiredness, but also the fact that, between the league and overseas matches later this month, Messi could play only seven games in 21 days.
“What worries me the most is the day-to-day and how you bounce back game after game,” Martino said Friday. “I feel like in the first two games we relied too much on him in each and every game, which caused him a lot of fatigue in both games. “
Martino indicated that Messi would not be expected to run as much and would rely on his teammates to pass the ball to him in dangerous areas, rather than letting him drop back and bring the ball up.
However, there are two with this. The Orlando team that Inter Miami beat 3-1 last season has taken a tremendous step forward and their defense is incredibly tough. His 39 goals conceded last season were the smallest in the East, and they added major improvements this summer to a team that finished at the convention a season ago.
It is possible that Suarez will be benched for this match, as he looked terrible against the Galaxy. He is one of the few Inter players who, like Messi, knows how to pass deep to win the ball back and push it forward. You’ll probably see more physical defense here, which will make it harder for you to worry and may just drain the energy of an already tired player.
And it’s not like Inter Miami had any better chance of getting a result last weekend. The Galaxy came away with just one goal despite 3. 37 xG, and beat Inter Miami 24-11 without four big opportunities.
For those reasons, I’m sticking with Orlando City for a result. Inter Miami’s defense will be punished through Orlando’s core of deep forwards, and the visitors will be able to stick with Messi.
My bet: Orlando City’s double chance (-107 at TonyBet)
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Luis Muriel has been an Orlando player this offseason and contributed to his debut in a 3-1 win over the Cavalry on Tuesday night.
He had three shots, two of them on target, and was unlucky not to score. The former Atalanta striker averaged the second-fewest minutes between goals in his Serie A stint, behind only Cristiano Ronaldo, and will make his mark on this game. at some point.
Cesar Araujo gives a falsified parlay price to check his in this match. He had two shots last weekend against CF Montreal and has already attempted three in just 125 minutes of play in the CONCACAF Champions League.
Inter Miami has given up 41 shots in its first two games, and its participation in the secondary break opens up an opportunity for them to keep the fire burning.
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Inter Miami: Diego Gomez M (debatable), Fanco Negri D (out), Facundo Farias M (out). City of Orlando: No key to report.
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