St. Louis City vs. Inter Miami: MLS previews

Inter Miami hit the road to take on first-year club St. Louis City on July 15 at CITY Park in St. Louis, Missouri.

St. Louis City and Inter Miami will square off for the first time ever as both clubs are on opposite ends of their respective conferences; City are at the summit of the West with 38 points while the Herons sit at the bottom of the East with 18 points.

Miami’s long injury list has played its part in their terrible season thus far, along with the constant speculation of former head coach Phil Neville, who was let go earlier this season. The highly anticipated arrival of Lionel Messi, Sergio Busquets, and Jordi Alba is on the horizon for Miami fans with new head coach Gerardo ‘Tata’ Martino taking charge of his first game for the club against St. Louis. Things can only get better for Miami, right?

On the flip side, St. Louis City have enjoyed a magical first season in MLS thus far, leading the Western Conference despite injuries to key figures like Joao Klauss and Eduard Lowen. Ironically, their debut season feels somewhat similar to Martino’s first season in Atlanta – playing attacking entertaining football no matter who the opponent is. Head coach Bradley Carnell’s side has scored 40 goals in 2023, and more could be on the cards against a struggling Miami defense.

Will Martino’s first game in charge see Miami pick up three huge points on the road, or will St. Louis extend their stay atop the Western Conference table?

When is kick-off? 8:30 PM EST

Where is the game being played? CITY Park

TV channel/live stream? MLS Season Pass on Apple TV

What time does TV coverage start? 8:15 PM EST

Two of St. Louis City’s most important players, forward Joao Klauss and midfielder Eduard Lowen, will miss the game as they recover from their respective muscle injuries. Both players are expected to be back later this month.

Defender Joakim Nilsson will also miss the game as he’s recoving from a knee injury and is expected to back by the end of the month. Bradley Carnell knows he can rely on Aziel Jackson in Lowen’s place and Nicholas Gioacchini in Klauss’ place up front. In defense, Tim Parker and Joshua Yaro will hold down the fort while Nilsson remainds sidelined.

St. Louis has won their last three games in MLS, winning three out of their last five overall. They picked up three points against San Jose, Toronto, and Colorado, and dropped two games to Real Salt Lake and Nashville.

There’s no way to get around it: Miami’s injury situation is grim. Defender Franco Negri and forward Corentin Jean have suffered long-term injuries that sees them out of action for the remainder of the 2023 season. Christopher McVey and Noah Allen will fill in for Negri, while Leonardo Campana and Josef Martinez (who is reunited with Martino) will get chances at center-forward.

The injuries don’t stop there for the Herons, moving over to the midfield club captain Gregore’s Lisfranc injury sees him out of action until September, and Jean Mota suffered an LCL injury in March and is expected to be back in November. Several players such as Dixon Arroyo, David Ruiz, Benjamin Cremaschi, and now Sergio Busquets will get plenty of opportunities to impress their new head coach in the middle of the park.

While Miami has only lost two games out of their last five attempts, they haven’t exactly been good during that period either, drawing their last three games. The two losses were against greater opposition like Philadelphia Union and New England Revolution, while they secured the three consecutive draws against Austin, Columbus, and DC.

St. Louis will probably be heavy favorites in this one given they they’re playing at home and they seem to be kicking on despite their injury problems. They can still rely on the young Gioacchini up top to provide goals if needed.

But Martino and Miami won’t go away easy, as that’s how it was with his Atlanta United teams. Especially as he’s reuniting with Martinez, Miami and their combination of veteran and younger players could find some chances on goal against Roman Burki.

Prediction: St. Louis City 2 – Inter Miami 2