Messi leads Inter Miami against the Columbus Crew

Columbus Crew (7-2-7, third in the Eastern Conference) vs. Inter Miami CF (7-3-5, fifth in the Eastern Conference)

Fort Lauderdale, Florida; Saturday, 7:30 p.m. EDT

BETMGM SPORTSBOOK LINE: Inter Miami CF +109, Columbus +203, Draw +286; over/under is 3.5 goals

BOTTOM LINE: Lionel Messi leads Inter Miami into a matchup with the Columbus Crew after scoring two goals against CF Montreal.

Miami is 6-1-4 in Eastern Conference games. Messi leads the second-ranked scoring team in the Eastern Conference with eight. Miami has scored 31 goals.

The Crew are 5-2-4 against Eastern Conference opponents. The Crew rank eighth in the MLS allowing only 19 goals.

Saturday’s game is the second time these teams square off this season. Miami won the last meeting 1-0.

TOP PERFORMERS: Messi has scored eight goals and added three assists for Miami. Jordi Alba has two assists over the last 10 games.

Diego Rossi has scored eight goals with two assists for the Crew. Jacen Russell-Rowe has three goals and one assist over the past 10 games.

LAST 10 GAMES: Miami: 3-3-4, averaging 2.0 goals, 4.7 shots on goal and 6.0 corner kicks per game while allowing 2.0 goals per game.

Crew: 4-2-4, averaging 1.8 goals, 4.6 shots on goal and 5.5 corner kicks per game while allowing 1.5 goals per game.

NOT EXPECTED TO PLAY: Miami: David Ruiz (injured), Baltasar Rodriguez (injured), Drake Callender (injured).

Crew: Patrick Schulte (injured), Sean Zawadzki (injured), Mohamed Farsi (injured), Rudy Camacho (injured).

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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.