Nashville SC vs. Lionel Messi and Inter Miami: Score prediction, scouting report

Despite a number of close calls, Nashville SC hasn’t gotten the better of Lionel Messi yet.

On Saturday, Nashville (1-2-4, seven points) will get another opportunity when it faces Inter Miami (4-2-3, 15 points) at Fort Lauderdale’s Chase Stadium (6:30 p.m. CT, Apple TV).

Since Messi signed with Inter Miami last summer, the Herons are unbeaten in four matches against Nashville. The first three — including an epic Leagues Cup final that Miami won on penalties — all ended tied after 90 minutes, but the most recent meeting did not. Messi and legendary Uruguayan striker Luis Suarez both scored in Miami’s 3-1 win on March 13, which knocked Nashville out of the CONCACAF Champions Cup in the round of 16.

Here’s our score prediction and scouting report for Saturday:

Nashville returns from off week in better health

Nashville’s most recent win was 2-1 over Charlotte FC on March 16. Since then, it has gone 0-2-1 and fallen to 14th in the Eastern Conference. Injuries have been a huge part of that struggle: Walker Zimmerman, Shaq Moore, Tyler Boyd and Randall Leal, all starters or close to it when healthy, missed Nashville’s 2-1 loss to the Philadelphia Union on April 6.

An open week gave Nashville time to get healthy. Coach Gary Smith said Thursday that he expects Boyd and Leal to be “part of the equation” against Inter Miami. Zimmerman and Moore have been active in training and “aren’t a million miles off,” but Smith thinks Saturday “might be a push” for the United States internationals.

MORE: How a packed, unforgiving schedule has led to Nashville SC’s worst MLS start since 2020

In addition to two likely reinforcements in attack, Nashville — for the first time this season — heads into a game as the more rested team. Inter Miami has played two games since Nashville’s most recent: a loss to Monterrey, which eliminated Inter Miami from the CCC quarterfinals on April 10, and a win over Sporting Kansas City on April 13.

It’s not a situation Nashville encounters often, but it has boded well in the past. In September, Nashville thrashed Kansas City 3-0 on the road after an 18-day break, during which SKC played twice.

Lionel Messi back from injury

Messi left his previous game against Nashville with a hamstring injury, which ultimately caused him to miss four matches. He made his return in a 1-1 draw with the Colorado Rapids on April 6, scoring his team’s lone goal, and found the net again against Kansas City.

The Herons are 4-1-3 when Messi plays and just 1-3-1 when the eight-time Ballon d’Or winner sits.

“When he’s in the group, there’s a very different feel, look and inspiration about the team,” Smith said. ” . . . When (Miami) is at full strength, they’re going to be a mightily difficult team to suffocate and to really get anything out of.”

Hany Mukhtar off to solid start

On Thursday, Hany Mukhtar appeared surprised when a reporter told him that by one measure, he’s off to his second-best start to a season with Nashville.

Mukhtar is averaging 0.76 combined goals and assists per 90 minutes through seven MLS games. That ranks behind only his 0.87 average from 2022, a season in which he scored 23 goals, assisted on 11 more and was named the league’s MVP.

Mukhtar is optimistic he can build on that start. For one, he said he’s “feeling much better” after a hamstring injury kept him out of three games at the start of the season. He also thinks that the return of Boyd and Leal will allow him to play higher up the field, where he’s more comfortable.

“I think now with Randall coming slowly back and Tyler Boyd coming back to the team, that we find our way,” Mukhtar said. “Me and Sam (Surridge) can stay a little bit higher, be more effective, getting balls from our midfielders in that attacking third.”

Nashville SC vs. Inter Miami score prediction

Nashville 2, Inter Miami 2: Defensive woes continue without Zimmerman and Moore, but Boyd and Leal provide a jolt to the attack and Nashville rides two weeks of rest to earn a point on the road.

MORE: Inside Taylor Washington’s journey from USL to Nashville SC mainstay in MLS

Jacob Shames can be reached by email at jshames@gannett.com and on Twitter @Jacob_Shames.