Inter Miami will be keeping up their Leagues Cup spirit high in the week. From 32, we are now left with 16 teams as the Herons will lock horns against fellow Eastern Conference rivals Columbus Crew on Tuesday at Ohio’s Lower.com Field stadium. Both sides will be contesting for the quarter-final spot to cement their chances of winning the prestigious trophy.

Columbus Crew enters the match with a remarkable 4-0 victory over fellow MLS rivals Sporting KC. A lovely brace from Diego Rossi and two later strikes from DeJuan Jones and Dylan Chambost were enough for the Ohio-based club to progress to the round of 16.

Meanwhile, Inter Miami, still without Lionel Messi, enters into the match with a seven-goal thriller victory over John Herdman’s Toronto FC. A brace from Matias Rojas and goals from Diego Gomez and Luis Suarez helped Tata Martino and Co. to overcome the 4-3 narrow win against Lorenzo Insigne’s penalty brace and Noah Allen’s unfortunate own goal.

Columbus Crew vs Inter Miami: Team news

Injuries

Columbus Crew

The previous fixture didn’t see Taha Habroune on the roster as the 18-year-old midfielder just returned from U-20 CONCACAF Championship action. It remains so that he will be absent for this one as well. Meanwhile, veteran goalkeeper Evan Bush remains sidelined with a wrist injury. Taking the 38-year-old’s place would be second-choice goalkeeper Nicholas Hagen as Patrick Schulte was also joined by Habroune for USMNT U-20 duties.

Inter Miami

Recent acquisition David Martinez saw his first red card for Inter Miami in the previous fixture within the first 28 minutes on the clock, making him an obvious absentee against Columbus Crew. Meanwhile, addressing the major missing from the squad, Lionel Messi is yet to see action for the David Beckham-owned club. The Argentinian superstar came back from the Copa America with both a trophy and an ankle injury, making it doubtful that fans will see him play anytime soon. Unfortunately, Miami’s injury woes extend beyond just this.

Nicolas Freire and Facundo Farias will remain sidelined as they continue to nurse their ACL injuries. Though Sergii Kryvtsov was also one of the doubts due to his ankle injury, he did make the return to the squad only to not make an appearance. As for Diego Gomez and Benjamin Cremaschi, both finally joined the group from their recent Paris Olympics endeavor with the respective nations. Gomez started the match until 80 minutes, while Cremaschi came just before 10 minutes remaining.

Potential lineups

Columbus Crew predicted lineup (3-4-3): Schulte; Moreira, Camacho, Amundsen; Farsi, Nagbe, Zawadzki, Matan; Ramirez, Rossi; Hernandez

Inter Miami predicted lineup (4-3-3): Callender; Weigandt, Aviles, Kryvtsov, Alba; Rojas, Busquets, Redondo; Gressel, Suarez, Gomez

Head-to-head stats and prediction for the League Cup

Total matches played: 7

Won by Inter Miami: 4

Won by Columbus Crew: 2

Draw: 1

Undoubtedly, both sides are buzzing with their respective victories. Though Inter Miami is indeed on their lucky run (and nervy) without the absence of Lionel Messi, Columbus Crew may still struggle to capitalize on the Herons’ biggest weakness. We reckon the score will be Columbus Crew 2-3 Inter Miami.

Watch Columbus Crew vs Inter Miami Leagues Cup Round of 16 on TV and live stream

Columbus Crew vs Inter Miami Leagues Cup Round of 16 will kick off on August 13 at 7:30 pm ET/4:30 PT. Fans in the US, UK, and other countries can catch the action live on Apple TV with the MLS season pass. A few of the matches can also be televised on Televisa, Fox Sports (FS1), TSN, and RDN.