Inter Miami will host Real Salt Lake at the DRV PNK Stadium on Wednesday in the opening round of the 2024 Major League Soccer campaign.
The home side endured a difficult league campaign last season and will be looking to put out a much better performance this year. They also failed to impress during the off-season, winning just one of their eight friendly outings.
Inter Miami played out a 1-1 draw against Newell's Old Boys in their final pre-season outing and had looked set to be headed toward a narrow victory following Shanyder Borgelin's opener midway through the second half before their opponents leveled the scores seven minutes from normal time.
Real Salt Lake, meanwhile, performed fairly well in the MLS last season with their fifth-place finish in the Western Conference marking their highest league finish since 2019. They kicked off their pre-season campaign with a 2-1 defeat to Brondby earlier in the month but bounced back with wins over Fredrikstad and Klaksvik before playing out a 1-1 draw against Toronto FC last time out.
Following Wednesday's game, the visitors will return to the road as they face St. Louis City at the Citypark on Sunday in their second league outing.
Inter Miami vs Real Salt Lake Head-to-Head and Key Numbers
- Wednesday's game will mark the first-ever meeting between Inter Miami and Salt Lake.
- The hosts have kept just two clean sheets in their last 15 games across all competitions, a run dating back to last September.
- Only six of Inter Miami's 18 league defeats last season came on home turf.
- The Claret and Cobalt picked up 28 points on the road in the MLS last season. Only Orlando City (31) picked up more.
Inter Miami vs Real Salt Lake Prediction
Inter Miami are on a run of back-to-back winless outings and have won just one of their last 15 games across all competitions. They are without a win in their last four competitive games at the DRV PNK Stadium and will be desperate to end that streak here.
RSL have picked up two wins and a draw from their last three games after losing three of their four games prior. They have, however, struggled for results on the road of late and could see defeat on the opening day.
Prediction: Inter Miami 2-1 Real Salt Lake
Inter Miami vs Real Salt Lake Betting Tips
Tip 1 - Result: Inter Miami to win
Tip 2 - Goals - Over/under 2.5 - Over 2.5 goals (Eight of RSL's last 11 competitive away matches have produced more than 2.5 goals)
Tip 3 - Both teams to score: YES (Both sides have found the back of the net in five of the hosts' last seven competitive matches)