Inter Miami CF vs FC Porto Preview

Inter Miami and FC Porto will each play their second group stage game of this year’s Club World Cup.

Both teams opened their tournament with goalless draws, meaning that no team in Group A scored a goal in their opening game. As a result, the group remains open and the winner of this tie is likely to advance to the next stage.

Despite their boring draw in their opening game, Inter Miami come into this game without defeat in their last four outings in all competitions (W2, D2). Although they didn’t play their opening game at their home stadium, it was played in Miami, so this will have an away game feel to it as they head to Atlanta.

They at least have some happy recent memories on this ground, having beaten Atlanta 2-1 here as recently as March. So, given their status as the host nation, the will feel they have an advantage here, while the quality of Lionel Messi and Luis Suarez, both of whom have previously won this tournament, should inspire them.

Meanwhile, Porto squared off against Palmeiras in their opening Group A game and, like Inter Miami, were rather fortunate not to get beaten. The 30-time Portuguese champions may perhaps feel a more favourable game awaits them here, and Opta’s power rankings certainly support that theory too.

Palmeiras are ranked 74th in the world by Opta, while Inter Miami are a much lower 153rd, some way beneath #58-ranked Porto, yet having won just one of their last five matches played at a neutral venue in major European/international competition (D2, L2), victory is far from assured here.