Anyone yearning for more subplots around the bans given to Lionel Messi and Jordi Alba by the MLS will find the drama heightened by the identity of their opponents on Saturday.
Cincinnati are top of the Eastern Conference with a seven-point lead on the Herons but three fewer games to play, and are the only side to have beaten the Herons in their last eight league matches over more than two months, winning 3-0 despite Messi’s involvement at TQL Stadium on July 16.
“We know that if we want to be competitive – not just in the MLS, but in all competitions – we need to be very, very good in defense,” manager Javier Mascherano said after Miami’s impressive 5-1 win last Saturday at a New York Red Bulls side who have one of the best home records in the division.
“One of the reasons [for that defeat] could be that we are tired, but Cincinnati were better than us.”
Cincinnati have won six and lost one of their last seven games to stand a point above Philadelphia at the summit, following up their thrashing of Miami with a 1-0 win at Real Salt Lake on Sunday courtesy of winger Luca Orellanos 87th-minute goal.
While Messi and Alba have been suspended for a match for missing the All-Star Game in Austin on Wednesday, in-form Cincinnati midfielder Evander captained the victorious MLS team and had scored eight goals in five matches – including two against Miami – before a rare blank against Salt Lake.
“In a short amount of time, you go play [Miami] again at their place, so they’ll be motivated, and I imagine they improve from the first performance,” said manager Pat Noonan.
“So it only becomes more challenging to go and try to replicate what we were able to do at our place. The guys understand this will be a very difficult game.
“There’s certainly plenty on the line as far as implications with where both teams are in the standings and where we’re at in the year.”
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Inter Miami v Cincinnati team news
Messi is reportedly furious about being banned and Mascherano must now work out how to compensate for the loss of the player directly involved in 25 of Miami’s 49 league goals in 2025, scoring 18 times.
No other Miami player has netted more than seven goals in this season’s MLS. Uruguay all-time top scorer Luis Suarez has gone five league games without scoring, although three of the 38-year-old’s 10 league assists for 2025 have come across those matches.
Alba is Miami’s reigning Defensive Player of the Year and also scored against the Red Bulls. Defender Maximiliano Falcon is suspended because of accumulated yellow cards.
Versatile Greece youth international Noah Allen and Ecuador prospect Allen Obando are doubts with hamstring issues, while Racing Club de Avellaneda loanee Baltasar Rodriguez and goalkeeper Oscar Ustari are out with the same issue.
Goalkeeper Drake Callendar is back in training after a hernia issue and defender Ian Fray is still suffering with an injury sustained during the Club World Cup.
Kevin Denkey will be unable to add to his 12 goals in 21 MLS appearances for Cincinnati this season because the Togo forward has a leg injury.
Yuya Kubo has suffered an ankle issue as part of an injury-strewn season, and fellow midfielder Obinna Nwobodo is out with a quad problem.
Nick Hagglund has not featured since sustaining two broken ribs and a collapsed lung in a collision with Atlanta’s Emmanuel Latte Lath on May 25, although the defender was an unused substitute in the win over Miami.
Defenders Gilberto Flores and DeAndre Yedlin will face suspensions if they are booked.
Inter Miami v Cincinnati expected line-ups
Inter Miami starting XI: Novo; Weigandt, Falcon, Aviles, Moriales; Segovia, Busquets, Redondo, Allende; Picault, Suarez
Cincinnati starting XI: Celentano; Flores, Robinson, Hadebe; Powell, Bucha, Anunga, Engel; Evander; Baird, Valenzuela
How to watch Miami v Cincinnati: Live stream, TV channel
Kick-off on Saturday is at 19:15 ET (16:15 PT on Saturday / 00:15 BST on Sunday), with live coverage available through the MLS Season Pass on Apple TV+.
In the US, a subscription costs $14.99 a month or $69 a season. Existing Apple TV+ subscribers pay $12.99 per month or $59 a season.
Inter Miami v Cincinnati stats
- Inter Miami have six wins to Cincinnati’s five in the history of the fixture
- Yedlin (2022-2024) and fellow defender Alvas Powell (2020) are ex-Miami players
- Miami’s total of 49 goals in the 2025 MLS is 10 more than Cincinnati and seven more than any other team
- They have won four of their last five home games and each of the last three, with Messi accounting for seven of their 15 goals along the way and Suarez scoring three
- Cincinnati have won four and lost one of the last six MLS meetings between the teams, although Miami have won three and lost one out of five when they have been the home side, including a 2-0 victory through Suarez goals in 2024
- Miami have conceded 8.4 xG in their last five league matches and averaged 1.7 per match overall – the 16th-worst record in the 2025 MLS
- Only four players have featured for more minutes in this season’s MLS than the 2,160 accumulated by Cincinnati goalkeeper Roman Celentano
- Only Messi and Nashville’s Sam Surridge (both 18) have more goals in the 2025 MLS than Evander, who has matched his total last season of 15 in six fewer games
- Evander’s eight assists mean only Messi and San Diego’s Andres Dreyer have more total goal contributions
- The 27-year-old became the first player in Cincinnati’s history to score in five consecutive matches with his goals against Miami, with his two player of the matchday awards making him one of three players to have achieved the feat, alongside Messi and Philadelphia’s Tai Baribo
- Cincinnati have only conceded more than 1.1 expected goals (xG) in one of their last seven matches, beating Orlando City 2-1 in that game
- Orellano has directly contributed to goals in six of his last seven appearance
- Brazilian forward Sergio Santos made his 100th Cincinnati appearance against Real Salt Lake, becoming the 12th player in club history to reach that total
Inter Miami v Cincinnati prediction
A heavy beating by Cincinnati with their talisman suggests Miami will not improve upon the result without Messi, although we’ll back Cincy to have a tougher time on their travels and win 2-1.
The hope for Miami may be that they are galvanised by the injustice they feel at being deprived of two players amid a schedule Mascherano described as “crazy”.
“We must unite as one entity,” said Miami co-owner Jorge Mas, via journalist Guillem Balague, who is Messi’s biographer.
“We are against the world and that must be reflected in our performance during the second half of the year.”
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2025-07-26 16:16:51
