Inter Miami have a chance to match their longest winning streak of the regular season and, more importantly, maintain their narrow advantage in the MLS playoff race when they travel to BMO Field for a date with Toronto on Friday.
Heading into their final road fixture of the campaign, the Herons currently hold the last postseason position in the Eastern Conference, possessing three more wins than the Columbus Crew, while the Reds are out of playoff contention, having lost three matches in a row.
Match preview
© Reuters
Toronto have two more games remaining before Bob Bradley and his staff will be reflecting on what needs to be done to turn this team back into the MLS powerhouse unit that they were years ago.
The most obvious area that will need to be addressed ahead of 2023 is their defending, allowing four goals in three successive fixtures as their centre-backs have been pushed around far too often throughout the year.
In 2021, their backline was exposed often, allowing 66 goals, but they have been equally poor in that department this season, conceding only five fewer heading into the home stretch of the campaign.
For a long time in 2022, it looked as though the Reds were waiting until the summer months for their Italian cavalry to arrive before making their move, but even those big names were not able to push this team above the playoff line.
While they have brought in some proven match-winners, this is still a relatively young team who have gone through plenty of growing pains this season and learned some hard lessons.
TFC have collected points in three of their last four domestic encounters played at BMO Field, though they have not won a home fixture since defeating Charlotte FC 4-0 in July.
© Reuters
Over in South Beach, the Herons continue to put themselves in bad positions but have been rescued by some outstanding individual efforts.
Before the international break, Phil Neville saw his side behind after 22 minutes against DC United but managed to earn three points thanks to a goal in stoppage time, winning 3-2.
That victory at Audi Field was the Herons' first triumph on the road in their last four matches and just the third for them all season.
Leaving it late has become a trademark of this group over this campaign, as Miami search for their second playoff appearance since entering the league in 2020, scoring six match-winning goals this year with fewer than 10 minutes remaining.
It is good for them that the first tiebreaker in MLS is wins rather than goal difference, as Miami are -11 in that department, which is the third-worst goal differential in the Eastern Conference.
Having earned a new franchise mark for points in a single campaign with their victory against the Black and Red (42), the Herons can set a club record for wins in a season should they triumph in Toronto, having captured 12 matches so far in 2022.
Team News
© Reuters
Since replacing Alex Bono in the TFC goal, Quentin Westberg has had a rough couple of outings, conceding eight goals in his previous two matches.
Federico Bernardeschi, who has been an enormous addition since arriving from Juventus, saw his four-match scoring run end in their 4-0 defeat at Orlando City.
He has eight tallies on the year, one fewer than Jesus Jimenez and Jonathan Osorio, while Richie Laryea has three assists since returning to the Reds on loan from Nottingham Forest and Ayo Akinola tallied his second of the campaign in their 4-2 defeat versus Atlanta United.
Toronto will be without Lukas MacNaughton due to a yellow card suspension, and Osorio is questionable with an upper-body problem.
Doneil Henry and Chris Mavinga are dealing with lower body issues, while Lorenzo Insigne returned to the lineup against Orlando City after previously being away because of a personal family situation.
A brace from Leonardo Campana and an injury-time strike from Gonzalo Higuain propelled the Herons to victory in their previous outing.
The two of them have 10 and 13 goals, respectively, this season, as Miami are now just the fourth MLS team in 2022 to have multiple players in double digits for tallies.
Alejandro Pozuelo returns to Toronto for the first time since being traded for General Allocation Money in July, while Jean Mota and Ariel Lassiter scored in their previous match against the Reds this year, which they won 2-1.
Damion Lowe will be questionable with a sprained knee, Corentin Jean and Ian Fray are unlikely to feature for that same reason, while Brek Shea and Robbie Robinson are dealing with hamstring injuries.
Toronto possible starting lineup:
Westberg; Criscito, O'Neill, Marshall-Rutty; Bradley; Petrasso, Okello, Nelson; Insigne, Akinola, Bernardeschi
Inter Miami possible starting lineup:
Callender; McVey, Mabika, Sailor, Yedlin; Mota, Gregore; Duke, Pozuelo, Campana; Higuain
We say: Toronto 1-2 Inter Miami
We expect Toronto to put up a fight, as their dangerous attacking tandem should be able to create their share of opportunities, but Higuain has found another gear and seems to be in the zone right now, so look for him to step it up and propel his side to another three points.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
