Wayne Rooney's DC United head to DRV PNK Stadium on Saturday to take on Inter Miami who will be starting life without Phil Neville in charge after he was relieved of his duties this week.
The hosts will be aiming to lift themselves off the foot of the Major Soccer League Eastern Conference, while the visitors could potentially climb into sixth with three points.
Match preview
© Reuters
It has been a tough start to the season for Inter Miami, having only managed five victories to this point which has left the club bottom of the Eastern Conference heading into this weekend.
The team have gone consecutive games without a win and without a goal, which is a situation that the team will need to start addressing sooner than later.
That situation has become even tougher during the week when the club decided to part ways with Neville, leaving Javier Morales in charge as the interim head coach.
A Tom Barlow goal was enough to seal a defeat for them in midweek as New York Red Bulls beat them 1-0, which is something Inter Miami now need to try and put behind them.
The team will be able to take some confidence from the fact they have been stronger at DRV PNK Stadium than they have in away games, with four of their five wins taking place at home.
A victory could see them climb as high as 12th depending on other results around them though, providing the team with plenty of incentive to secure a win.
© Reuters
For the visitors, they will simply be looking to continue their strong start to the campaign which has left them in mid-table coming into this weekend.
Rooney will want more from his team away from home though after winning just twice on the road so far, and a match against the bottom of the league could be the ideal one to turn those fortunes around.
However, DC United do need a slight change of form generally after winning just once in their previous six matches in all competitions, drawing three and losing the other two.
Rooney was left frustrated in midweek after his team seemingly had three points in their hands against CF Montreal only to concede an 82nd-minute equaliser.
The need to focus until the end is something DC United will look to implement this time around to get back to claiming all three points, with a win possibly pushing the club into sixth depending on other results.
Team News
© Reuters
Morales will have to deal with several injury problems for his first game in charge as Gregore and Rodolfo Pizarro are out of action due to ankle and hamstring issues respectively, plus Jean Mora is still unavailable.
Robbie Robinson is expected to make his return in the near future though, and could be in contention this weekend for a place in the matchday squad.
Of course, with a new boss in the dugout, the Inter Miami lineup could look drastically different, or very similar to what Neville did, depending on how Morales wants to play it.
Inter Miami did introduce academy star Edison Azcona from the bench in midweek though after he featured in the squad for the first time in the MLS.
Experienced forward Christian Benteke will lead the line for the visitors as he looks to continue adding to his current seven-goal tally for the season.
Meanwhile, Rooney will likely continue implementing the 3-4-2-1 formation that has been working well for him throughout this season.
Inter Miami possible starting lineup:
Callender; McVey, Kryvtsov, Miller; Yedlin, Cremaschi, Fray, Arroyo, Negri; Campano, Martinez
DC United possible starting lineup:
Miller; Palsson, Williams, Pines; Najar, Durkin, O'Brien, Santos; Ku-DiPietro, Klich; Benteke
We say: Inter Miami 0-2 DC United
Inter Miami might have been stronger at home throughout this season, but it is DC United who will be expected to take all three points here due to their impressive performances throughout this campaign.
How to watch
You can watch Inter Miami vs. DC United and every MLS match this season live on Apple TV. Click here for more details on how to subscribe.For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
