Puebla vs Inter Miami: Preview, predictions and lineups: Leagues Cup 2024

Inter Miami will begin their Leagues Cup title defense when they take on Liga MX side Puebla this Saturday night at Chase Stadium.

Puebla picked up a 1-0 triumph over Santos Laguna in their first match of the 2024 Liga MX Apertura campaign but have since failed to claim three points in their following three matches. The team suffered a 4-1 defeat to Necaxa, settled for a 2-2 draw vs Club Leon before falling 2-1 to Atlas. Jose Manuel de la Torre’s side will look to turn things around against Miami to give themselves a shot of making it out of East Group 3.

The Herons have been in fine form as of late — excluding the humbling 6-1 defeat to FC Cincinnati a few weeks back. Tata Martino’s side sit atop the Supporters’ Shield standings with just four defeats on the season but face a difficult task of repeating as Leagues Cup champions without superstar Lionel Messi.

Here’s 90min‘s guide to Puebla vs Inter Miami.

* This is the first-ever meeting between Puebla and Inter Miami.

Current form (all competitions)

Puebla have no new injury concerns in their camp, meaning de la Torre should have his full squad available for selection against Miami.

Puebla predicted lineup vs Inter Miami ( 4-1-4-1): Rodriguez; Ferrareis, Gularte, Orona, Angulo; De Buen; Ormeno, Castillo, Gonzalez, Alvarez; Cavallini.

The 37-year-old Messi is still sidelined for the foreseeable future with an ankle injury, while Luis Suarez is dealing with a knock after playing the full match in the 2-1 win over Chicago. While Messi is likely to miss the game, Suarez’s status remains up in the air. Both players missed the MLS All-Star match against Liga MX’s All Stars and will be itching to return to action soon.

Defender Serhiy Kryvtsov is another key name that’s set to miss the next month or so with a knee injury, which could mean more minutes at center-back for Sergio Busquets.

The likes of Diego Gomez (Paraguay) Benjamin Cremaschi (USA) are competing at the 2024 Paris Olympic Games and will be unavailable for selection for the next few weeks.

Inter Miami predicted lineup vs Puebla ( 4-3-3 ): Callender; Weigandt, Aviles, Allen, Alba; Redondo, Busquets, Rojas; Gressel, Campana, Taylor.

While Puebla’s recent form has been poor, they still have a few players in the final third that are capable of making things happen. However, Miami will prove to be too much for the visitors as Robert Taylor and Matias Rojas will both get on the scoresheet to seal a comfortable victory.

Prediction: Puebla 0-2 Inter Miami