Inter Miami vs Chicago Fire preview: How to watch, kick-off time, team news, predicted lineups, and ones to watch

Two inconsistent Eastern Conference sides face off on Saturday night as Inter Miami hosts the Chicago Fire at DRV PNK Stadium.

Miami made a wonderful start to the season, winning their opening two games at home against CF Montréal and the Philadelphia Union. They then dropped their next two, losing on the road against NYCFC and Toronto FC. It’s been a rollercoaster ride of an opening, and Inter will hope that they can return to winning ways this weekend since they’ll be back home.

Chicago, meanwhile, sit in last place in the East. They’ve certainly not been good, as they’re the only team in the conference that has yet to win a game. However, it doesn’t feel like they’ve been last-place bad, if that makes sense. They’ve played one less game than most others, and they really should have some more points at the moment. However, the Fire only has themselves to blame for their spot in the standings, and another bad result could send everyone into a state of panic.

Team news

Miami is going through a selection crisis at the moment. Noah Allen, Ian Fray, and Gregore are all out with various problems, while the likes of Robbie Robinson, Edison Azcona, Shanyder Borgelin, and Leonardo Campana are listed as questionable for the contest. To make things worse Josef Martínez and Robert Taylor won’t feature either since they were called up to their respective national teams.

Things aren’t as bad for Chicago, but they will be without a few key names. Designated Players Xherdan Shaqiri and Jairo Torres are both injured, while star midfielder Federico Navarro is unavailable for selection. Miguel Navarro and Sergio Oregel will also miss out due to international duty.

Predicted lineups

Inter Miami: Calendar, Neville, Kryvtsov, McVey, Negri, Mota, Duke, Jean, Stefanelli, Pizarro, Lassiter

Chicago Fire: Brady, Souquet, Terán, Czichos, Aceves, Pineda, Giménez, Haile-Selassie, Gutiérrez, Mueller, Kamara

Ones to watch

Rodolfo Pizarro
Miami may need a hero.

As mentioned prior, they’ll be without a number of key players for this weekend’s fixture, especially in the attacking third. The timing could not be much worse, as they've been held scoreless in their last two games, so finding goals was already enough of a problem.

Someone’s going to have to step up, and it might have to be Rodolfo Pizarro.

The Mexican’s story in Miami is an interesting one. He came to the club in early-2020 with a lot of hype, as he had just helped Monterrey win the CONCACAF Champions League. Inter were praised for the signing, and he was expected to play a big part in their inaugural season.

Pizarro never really got going, though. Pizarro showed promise early on, grabbing three goal contributions in a two game span at one point, and then he went on a run of three-straight matches with an assist. That was it for his debut campaign, and his follow-up season wasn’t that impactful either.

As a result, the attacker was sent back to Monterrey. The move was technically only a loan deal, but there was an option to buy him at the end of it, and almost everyone expected the player to stay there past the end of the year.

That’s not what happened. His struggles continued back home, so Monterrey decided against keeping him long-term. That meant that Pizarro returned to Miami, and that's where he is now. He’s been a starter for them this year, and he even picked up an assist in a win against the Philadelphia Union.

The #20 will have to be at his best this weekend if Miami wants any chance of securing a result. He might be all they have left due to their absences in the squad.

Pizarro is still a talented player, so there’s absolutely reason to believe that he could be the difference. The Fire knows that well, as he scored a stoppage-time winner against them back in 2021.

Inter will hope that history repeats itself on Saturday night.

Brian Gutiérrez
Brian Gutiérrez will have the keys to the castle.

The focus isn’t usually on Gutiérrez. Either he’s playing out wide in a supporting role, or he’s left off the field entirely. However, that has changed due to Xherdan Shaqiri’s injury problems.

The homegrown got the nod up the middle last weekend, and he had a pretty solid showing. He was flying around the pitch, and his energy was matched by his teammates. Chicago in general looked more dangerous going forward. His final product was lacking a bit, but it was a good start.

With the DP still out of action, Gutiérrez will almost certainly get the nod this time around as well. However, more will be expected of him. He can’t just have another promising showing. He’ll have to produce something.

He’s still quite young, to be fair, and he won’t turn 20 until the summer. Then again, that is around the age where the top-tier talents make a big jump up in their developments. They go from phenoms to key players in the team.

Gutiérrez isn’t quite there, but he’s getting close. He was initially called up to the United States U-20 team for some friendlies, but the Fire refused to release the player because they knew they would need him. That shows that he has a role in the side at times.

Now the attacker has to help them get some results. He’s only registered a single assist so far this campaign, and that came via a simple pass to Kacper Przybyłko who then curled the ball into the top corner. Chicago certainly needs all the help they can get, as they’ve yet to pick up a win this year.

If Gutiérrez can put on a show and lead the team to a much-needed victory, then the #10 spot might be his even when Shaqiri returns.

Last time out

The most recent meeting between these two sides took place near the end of last season.

Both teams were still in the playoff picture, but they were in different situations. Miami was trying to improve their seeding, while Chicago was fighting just to stay alive.

It was the latter who opened the scoring before the halftime break. The goal was a little lucky, as a cross from Boris Sekulić deflected right to the head of Jhon Durán. However, there was nothing fortunate about the finish, with Durán powering a header into the back of the net from close range.

Chicago made it 2-0 past the hour mark. A cross hit into the area wasn’t defended properly, and the ball fell right to Xherdan Shaqiri. He made the most of the opportunity, blasting a volley past a helpless goalkeeper to double his side’s advantage.

Miami wouldn’t go down without a fight, and they pulled one back with about 15 minutes to go. Alejandro Pozuelo was bundled over in the penalty area by Federico Navarro, and the referee had no other choice than to point to the spot. Gonzalo Higuaín stepped up, sent the keeper the wrong way, and calmly converted the spot-kick.

That effort would be for naught, however, as the Fire put the game to bed late on. Durán broke free on the break, and even though he had Shaqiri with him, he decided to take it himself, slotting home to seal all three points for the hosts.

The win ultimately didn’t do much for Chicago, but at least their supporters had something to celebrate that night.