• Matchday 29: Inter Miami CF vs New York City FC
• Date and Kickoff Time: Wednesday, October 14, 7:40 pm ET
• Venue: Nu Stadium, Miami, FL
• Forecast: Hot, humid, downright South Florida-ish, 83F/28C
• Watch: Apple TV
• Apple Broadcast Team: Steve Cangialosi and Danny Higginbotham (English); Sammy Sadovnik, Diego Valeri, and Antonella Gonzalez (Spanish)
• New York City FC Radio: Glenn Crooks and Matt Lawrence (English), Roberto Abramowitz and Ariel Judas (Spanish)
• Officiating Crew: Lorenzo Hernandez (referee), Logan Brown and Gianni Facchini (assistant referees), Marcos DeOliveira (fourth official), Joe Dickerson (VAR), Mike Kampmeinert (assistant VAR)
• Kits: New York City will be in the navy All Nations Kit; Miami in its white-dominant third jersey, the Cénit Kit
No more time for reflecting on New York City FC's debacle of a loss in Chicago, there's another match to be played and this time it's against Lionel Messi and defending MLS Cup champions Inter Miami CF, in what will be New York City's first time playing at Miami's new home, the Nu Stadium.
Miami can clinch its place in the MLS Cup Playoffs with a win (or a draw, plus other results), while New York City desperately needs a win if it wants to pull back above the playoff qualification line, since the club kicks off this midweek matchday three points behind both FC Cincinnati and Red Bull New York in ninth and eighth places, respectively.
Wins have been rare for New York City since the season resumed after the FIFA World Cup. The club enters this Miami match with one win earned from its last 11 regular-season matches, and holds an all-competitions record of 4W-5D-7L in the 16 matches played post-World Cup between MLS and Leagues Cup.
If NYCFC wants to feel better about things heading into the Nu Stadium, then maybe the club should take note of Inter Miami's post-World Cup form: 5W-6D-5L, not too dissimilar from New York City's record. Miami is also slightly vulnerable at home, with a mixed record of 7W-7D-4L at Nu Stadium across all competitions. It's been enough of a struggle for Miami to make a second coaching change of the season and drop Messi's friend and former La Masia coach, Guillermo Hoyos, in order to bring in Cristian "Kily" González.
González is now the sixth Inter Miami coach to be at the helm across the team's last six seasons, and he won a trophy in his very first match in charge, a triumph in the one-off Campeones Cup over Cruz Azul of Mexico. It took González until his third MLS match to earn his first league win, but that was this past weekend, when his side breezed past DC United and won 4-0 while Miami's 39-year-olds, Messi and Luis Suárez, each bagged a pair of goals.
Yes, thanks to Messi, Suárez, and friends, Miami remains the most dangerous attacking team in Major League Soccer, a point of concern for a New York City side that has conceded two or more goals in seven of the 16 matches played post-World Cup, including the pair NYCFC let in while playing with an 11v10 advantage in that most recent loss to Chicago Fire FC.
A wounded, mistake-prone New York City FC side badly needs to turn over a new leaf beginning with this trip to tropical Florida, though away trips to face Inter Miami haven't historically been kind to NYCFC.
New York City FC H2H Record vs Miami
| G | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 15 | 7 | 4 | 4 | 25 | 23 | 2 |
New York City won seven of the first eight meetings between these teams, though those were all matches played before Lionel Messi showed up, taking place from 2020 through March 2023.
The head-to-head pendulum has strongly swung in Inter Miami's direction since the summer of 2023, as Miami has gone unbeaten across its last seven meetings (we do not recognize the Noche d'Or friendly, sorry) with New York City FC, a streak that includes three consecutive Miami wins in the most recent matches played between these teams.
