Inter Miami will take their pre-season show on the road to Honduras on Saturday as they battle Olimpia at Olimpico Metropolitano in a friendly.
Earlier this week, Los Merengues defeated Honduran side Real Sociedad 4-1 in the Liga Nacional Clausura campaign, while the Herons came away with a 3-1 triumph in their friendly versus Sporting San Miguelito last Sunday.
Match preview
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The reigning Honduran champions are proving to be a handful for the region domestically again this season, leading the Clausura with 12 points from five matches.
Eduardo Espinel's men have a 100% record at this stage of that competition on home soil, winning both of those games by a combined margin of 5-1.
Olimpia have been very sharp defensively at home, conceding a combined two goals in their last six competitive fixtures with four clean sheets.
They have gone on to win their last 15 matches played across all competitions when netting multiple times and did not suffer a single defeat last year when doing so.
They boast a strong record against sides outside Honduras, playing to a 1-1 draw with Antigua GFC and crushing Port Loyola 6-1 at the CONCACAF Central American Cup last year.
Los Leones have not dropped points when scoring first since that match against Antigua last summer, drawing first blood in four of their five league contests this season.
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Despite going behind after 24 minutes last weekend, Inter Miami showed they still have plenty of fight, scoring three unanswered goals against San Miguelito to win comfortably.
It should be no surprise to see them come from behind and win, as they collected an incredible 31 points from losing positions in the 2024 Major League Soccer (MLS) regular season.
That amounts to 42% of their record points total from last season (74), while they have come from behind to win their two pre-season friendlies this year.
On Saturday, they will attempt to claim consecutive victories in normal time for the first time since October 2024, winning all four of their MLS affairs played that month.
Javier Mascherano remains unbeaten as Inter Miami manager, with his side conceding just one goal in the second half of their three pre-season encounters.
This weekend, they can do something they have never done before in the pre-season, win consecutive matches in normal time versus teams outside the United States.
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Team News
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Olimpia have plenty of experienced players who previously featured for the Honduran national team, including goalkeeper Edrick Menjivar, Kevin Lopez and Alberth Elis to name a few.
Goals from Lopez, Yustin Arboleda, Jerry Bengtson and Jorge Benguche were more than enough to see them triumph against Real Sociedad in midweek.
From their shootout triumph versus Universitario to their victory over San Miguelito, Miami made two changes to their starting 11, with Yannick Bright and Benjamin Cremaschi coming in for Federico Redondo and Fafa Picault.
Cremaschi had their equalising goal last Sunday, with Tadeo Allende and Picault also finding the mark in what ended up being a straightforward triumph for the Herons.
Olimpia possible starting lineup:
Menjivar; Guity, Garcia, Benitez, Araujo; Lopez, Pineda, Alvarez; Elis, Bengtson, Benguche
Inter Miami possible starting lineup:
Ustari; Weigandt, Aviles, Fray, Alba; Allende, Busquets, Redondo, Gressel; Suarez, Messi
We say: Olimpia 1-2 Inter Miami
Olimpia have experienced players and some solid continuity, but when you face a side like Miami with individually gifted players like Lionel Messi and Luis Suarez, all it takes is a few minutes of magical play to win the day.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Joel Lefevre
