Soccer
Philadelphia Union striker Tai Baribo named Inter Miami’s Luis Suarez as one of his idols ahead of going up against him on Saturday, having made a blistering start to the MLS season.
Baribo has scored six goals in four matches for the Union this year, with Bradley Carnell’s team top of the Eastern Conference with 12 points from five games.
The striker was called up by Israel for their 2026 World Cup qualifiers against Estonia and Norway during the recent international break, meaning he missed last week’s 1-0 win over St. Louis City, but he is available for his club this weekend.
Baribo struggled for gametime after first joining Philadelphia in 2023 but then scored nine times in 16 appearances during a breakout 2024 campaign.
Reflecting on his struggles when first arriving in MLS, Baribo said: “I didn’t play for 10 months, something like this – I played a little bit, like, five minutes here, 30 minutes there.
“You need consistency to get the confidence. So it was a really tough moment for me, for me and my family.
“Your head is starting to think, ‘what will happen?’ I mean, I didn’t play. I was doing my best, but nothing happened.
“I knew that I would get the chance. I didn’t know when. I needed to prepare my mind. When you get your opportunity, you need to take it.”
On Saturday, he will come up against one of the players he has based his game on, with Suarez coming off a 2024 season in which he had 30 goal involvements in 30 league games (21 goals, nine assists).
“I call it, ‘cleaning the box’. This is your job, to take advantage of every mistake, every random ball. It’s your job to score at the end,” Baribo added.
“I was looking at a lot of videos of Suarez, of [Robert] Lewandowski, [Erling] Haaland – Haaland is big, he can create his own space. But I’m trying to see where the empty space is.
“It’s not easy. It looks easy, but you need to make these runs all the time.”
Miami are two points behind Philadelphia in the Eastern Conference standings, though Javier Mascherano’s team have played one fewer game.
It is unclear whether the Herons will have Lionel Messi available, after he skipped Argentina’s recent internationals due to a minor muscle issue.
PLAYERS TO WATCH
Inter Miami – Jordi Alba
Miami’s goals in their 2-1 win over Atlanta United before the international break were scored by Messi and Fafa Picault, with the latter assisted by Alba.
At least one of Miami’s quartet of former Barcelona players (Messi, Alba, Suarez and Sergio Busquets) has scored or assisted on their last 19 regular-season goals.
Alba recorded 11 assists last season, the most of any Miami player. He will offer a dangerous outlet down the left-hand side.
Philadelphia Union – Kai Wagner
Wagner has recorded an assist on each of his last three regular-season road appearances for the Union dating back to last season.
He is the fourth player in team history to do so, joining Daniel Gazdag, Jamiro Monteiro and Borek Dockal. No Union player has ever recorded an assist in four straight regular-season road games.
MATCH PREDICTION – INTER MIAMI
Philadelphia have won four of their first five matches of a regular season for the second time in club history, also doing so in 2022.
The Union have also won their first two road matches of a season for the second time, also achieving that feat in 2022.
However, Miami have won three consecutive matches against Philadelphia in all competitions.
They have previously won four straight matches over three teams in all competitions: D.C. United, Sporting Kansas City and Toronto FC.
Given their strong form, they will be positive regarding their chances of accomplishing that feat again on Saturday.
Miami have won six straight matches in all competitions for the first time in club history. They are unbeaten in 15 straight regular-season matches (W11 D4) dating back to last July, also the longest streak in club history.
OPTA WIN PROBABILITY
Inter Miami – 52.9%
Philadelphia Union – 23%
Draw – 24.1%
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