Inter Miami and Lionel Messi are back in Major League Soccer action on Saturday away at New England Revolution with Gillette Stadium welcoming the Supporters' Shield leaders. The Revs lost 1-0 to Toronto last time out while the Herons saw off Nashville 3-1 with Caleb Porter under pressure already in New England with six losses from eight and just five goals scored. With just four points so far, this is the lowest tally that the Revolution have held at this stage of a season in the 2000s.
Miami will be wary, though, that they have lost two of their three games against Saturday's opponents in Foxborough, Massachusetts with a 5-1 combined losing score line in those two outings. Now out of the CONCACAF Champions Cup, Tata Martino's side will have to focus on MLS success with consecutive domestic wins since losing to Monterrey for 18 points from 10 games – a tally which took them 21 games to reach last year.
Defense is still a concern for the Herons, with15 goals conceded but they have won 11 points from losing positions so far in 2024 and two away wins from four road games is not a bad return given they only won three times on their travels all of last campaign. The numbers hint at Miami doing better than expected and Messi is helping them to defy those expectations, but 2021 was the only time they have beaten the Revs which was the same year that New England set the MLS regular season record of 73 points.
Here's our storylines, how you can watch the match and more:
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How to watch and odds
- Date: Saturday, Apr. 27 | Time: 7:30 p.m. ET
- Location: Gillette Stadium -- Foxborough, U.S.
- Watch: MLS Season Pass
- Odds: New England +210; Draw +270; Miami +110
Team news
New England: Jonathan Mensah, DeJuan Jones, Tommy McNamara, Brandon Bye and Dylan Borrero are all out. The Revs landed Xavier Arreaga from Seattle Sounders earlier in the week for a 2025 international roster spot and General Allocation Money (GAM while goalkeeper Aljaz Ivacic has been signed through the 2025 MLS season with 2022 SuperDraft pick Jacob Jackson being waived. Mark-Anthony Kaye came in for Noel Buck who picked up a knock while Andrew Farrell now has 325 MLS regular season starts which is the the most in club history. Carles Gil already has three goals against Miami to his name and will once again be one of the main threats for Porter's side.
Potential New England XI: Ravas; Lima, Romney, Kessler, Spaulding; Harkes, Polster; N. Gil, C. Gil, Bajraktarevic; Vrioni.
Miami: Jordi Alba, Serhiy Kryvtsov, Robert Taylor, Leonardo Campana, Ian Fray, Facundo Farias, Federico Redondo, Diego Gomez and Robbie Robinson are all out here. Paraguay international Matias Rojas has arrived from Corinthians while Leo Afonso debuted last week as Sergio Busquets got his first goal of the season. Luis Suarez teed up one of Messi's two goals which was a 50th career assist for the legendary Argentina international alone.
Potential Miami XI: Callender; Weigandt, Aviles, Freire, Negri; Bright, Busquets, Ruiz; Messi, Suarez, Afonso.
Prediction
Expect this one to be fairly straightforward for Miami against a struggling New England side although the Herons will have to be wary of any further injuries given their lengthy absentee list. Pick: New England 0, Miami 2.
