Inter Miami vs. LA Galaxy Preview, Prediction and Odds - 4/18/21

Inter Miami CF will kick off their regular season on the road against the LA Galaxy on Sunday afternoon. Inter Miami finished their 2020 campaign with a 7-3-13 record, which was 10th in the Eastern Conference standings. The Galaxy finished with a 6-4-12 record, which was 10th in the Western Conference standings.

This will be the first meeting between the two teams.

Inter Miami Hoping For Improved Sophomore Campaign

Inter Miami got off to a slow start last season, losing their first five games. They were able to recover from their poor start and managed to earn a playoff spot. This season, with only seven teams from each conference making the playoffs, they will have to play better than they did a season ago.

Inter Miami made few changes in the offseason, replacing team coach Diego Alonso with former England Women’s national team coach Phil Neville, which raised a few eyebrows because of his inexperience managing at the club level.

Gonzalo Higuain and Rodolfo Pizarro were their big signings last offseason, but they did not live up to the hype. Now that they’ve had a full offseason to work together, they will be expected to lead the way offensively for this team.

Midfielders Gregore and Blaise Matuidi, who were signed during the offseason, are expected to be key contributors as well.

LA Galaxy Hoping New Voice Can Produce Results

The Galaxy were a disaster last season, underperforming when they were expected to compete for a title. Their play on the field led to the team parting ways with Guillermo Barros Schelotto. They replaced him with former Toronto FC head coach Greg Vanney, and are hoping for better results.

The Galaxy wanted to sign Boca Juniors attacker Cristian Pavón, who scored 10 goals for the Galaxy while on loan in 2019. However, off-the-field issues for Pavón has prevented them from going through with the transfer.

The team managed to sign French midfielder Samuel Grandsir and former Toronto FC midfielder Victor Vazquez instead.

Javier Hernandez, their prized offseason signing last year, was disappointing to say the least, scoring just two goals in 12 appearances. The Mexican national has vowed to repay Galaxy fans for their faith, but he will need to stay healthy and play better than he did last year if he want to follow through on his promise.

The Galaxy should be improved defensively, with the signing of former West Brom goalkeeper Jonathan Bond. They also added former Blackburn Rovers defender Derrick Williams, who is an improvement over his predecessor.

Side: Miami -115

This is a game between two teams that are still trying to figure out how good they can be. The Galaxy have the more experienced coach, but they have a lot of question marks, one of which is integrating their new players and the performance of Chicharito, who looked like a bust last season. Even though Neville doesn’t have a lot of coaching experience, Inter Milan has a lot of talent, which will be enough to help the team pull off the win.

Total: Under 3

Inter Miami averaged 1.08 goals per game last season and scored more than one goal on the road only once. Even though they are expected to be better offensively this season, they are playing their first game of the year against an improved Galaxy defense, so don’t expect them to score more than one goal here. The Galaxy also struggled offensively last season, averaging 1.17 goals per game. Even though Inter Miami struggled defensively last season, giving up 1.52 goals per game, don’t expect them to give up enough goals to push the score over the total.