Philadelphia Union Striker Tai Baribo mentioned Inter Miami's Luis Suarez as one of his idols before he went against him on Saturday, after making a blistering start of the MLS season.
This year, Baribo scored six goals in four games for the Union, with the Bradley Carnell Top team of the Eastern Conference with 12 points from five games.
The striker was called by Israel for their World Cup qualifications from 2026 against Estonia and Norway during the recent international break, which means that he missed last week's 1-0 win over St. Louis City, but he is available for his club this weekend.
Baribbo struggled for Gametime after he first joined Philadelphia in 2023, but then scored nine times in 16 performances during a 2024 campaign.
Baribo reflected on his struggles when he arrived in MLS for the first time, said: “I didn't play for 10 months, something like this – I played a little like, five minutes here, 30 minutes there.
“You need consistency to get the confidence. So it was a very difficult moment for me, for me and my family.
'Your head starts to think:' What will happen? “I mean, I didn't play. I did my best, but nothing happened.
“I knew I would get the chance. I didn't know when. I had to prepare my mind. If you get your chance, you have to assume.”
On Saturday he will meet one of the players on which he based his match, with Suarez from a 2024 season in which he had 30 targeted involvement in 30 league games (21 goals, nine assists).
“I call it, 'cleaning the box'. This is your task, to take advantage of any mistake, any ball. It is your job to score at the end,” Baribo added.
“I watched many videos from Suarez, from [Robert] Lewandowski, [Erling] Haaland – Haaland is large, he can create his own space. But I try to see where the empty space is.
“It's not easy. It looks simple, but you always have to make these runs.”
Miami is two points behind Philadelphia in the classification of the Eastern Conference, although the Javier Mascherano team played a game less.
It is unclear whether the Herigers Lionel Messi will have available after he has skipped the recent internationals of Argentina because of a small muscle issue.
Players to watch
Inter Miami – Jordi Alba
Miami's goals in their 2-1 victory over Atlanta United before the international break were scored by Messi and Fafa Picault, with the last assisted by Alba.
At least one of Miami's quartet from former Barcelona players (Messi, Alba, Suarez and Sergio Busquets) scored or helped with their last 19 goals for regular season.
Alba recorded 11 assists last season, most of every Miami player. He will offer a dangerous outlet on the left.
Philadelphia Union – Kai Wagner
Wagner has recorded an assist on each of his last three regular seasonal performances for the trade union that goes back to last season.
He is the fourth player in team history who does this, a member of Daniel Gazdag, Jamiro Monteiro and Borek Dockal. No trade union player has ever included an assist in four consecutive road races in the regular season.
Match forecast – Inter Miami
Philadelphia has won four of their first five games of a regular season for the second time in club history and will also do this in 2022.
The Union has also won their first two road races of a season for the second time and also achieved that performance in 2022.
However, Miami has won three consecutive games against Philadelphia in all competitions.
They have previously won four consecutive games about three teams in all competitions: DC United, Sporting Kansas City and Toronto FC.
Given their strong form, they will be positive about their chances of achieving that achievement on Saturday.
For the first time in club history, Miami has won six consecutive games in all competitions. They are unbeaten in 15 consecutive regular season races (W11 D4) dating from last July, also the longest series in club history.
Opta wins probability
Inter Miami – 52.9%
Philadelphia Union – 23%
Drawing – 24.1%
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