Inter Miami, Nashville SC meet in possible playoff preview

As the Major League Soccer playoff picture stands heading into Decision Day, Inter Miami and Nashville SC project to face each other in the first round of the playoffs.

The two sides will meet on Saturday night in Nashville in what could be a preview of that best-of-three series, although the outcome of the regular-season finale could alter the upcoming slate.

Inter Miami (18-7-8, 62 points) sit in third place in the Eastern Conference, tied on points with FC Cincinnati, who own the total-wins tiebreaker. However, if Miami ends up with more points than Cincinnati, it can still move up to the No. 2 seed.

Nashville (16-11-6, 54 points) sits in sixth place but could see its position fluctuate significantly depending on the results of the Saturday matches. Nashville could still move up as high as the No. 4 seed in the conference or fall as far as No. 8, which would drop the Boys in Gold into the wild-card match against the No. 9 seed.

Nashville SC are coming off a two-week hiatus since a 1-1 draw with CF Montreal that followed winning their first U.S. Open Cup championship. Led by Sam Surridge's 23 goals, Nashville has scored a club-record 56 goals this season.

"Everybody's goal is to finish in the top seven," Nashville coach B.J. Callaghan said recently. "For us, it's get some rest, get some recovery here and start getting focused on Miami. The table is super tight, and we can control what we do."

Miami did not get two weeks off but did go back to a one-match per week schedule as Lionel Messi scored twice and assisted on another goal in a 4-0 win over Atlanta United last weekend.

Messi leads the MLS Golden Boot race with 26 goals, with Los Angeles FC's Denis Bouanga two goals back.

The big conundrum for Inter Miami is which goalkeeper gets the nod to start Saturday between Rocco Rios Novo and Oscar Ustari, who was benched following a 5-3 loss to Chicago on Sept. 30. Rios Novo has started the past two matches, yielding just one goal vs. the New England Revolution and then recording a clean sheet against Atlanta.

"All three of us are ready, no matter who starts," Rios Novo said, including backup goalie William Yarbrough in the conversation. "The important thing is for the team to keep winning heading into the playoffs."