Ojeda Starts Again Against Inter Miami as NYCFC Chase a Different Result

Inter Miami CF and New York City FC have confirmed their starting XIs for tonight's Major League Soccer fixture at Nu Stadium, and the two teams will line up in identical 4-3-3 shapes. Kick-off is next, with no goals on the board yet and both benches set.

The team sheets settle the first question of the night: neither coach blinked. Inter Miami go 4-3-3, NYCFC go 4-3-3, and the match starts as a mirror. That means the wide corridors and the half-spaces either side of the single pivot are the areas to watch from the first whistle, because both sides have committed a front three and a three-man midfield rather than packing the middle with a back four and a double screen.

Agustín Ojeda is the name the NYCFC selection pushes forward. He scored in this fixture on Sunday, his 59th-minute strike in the 3-2 home defeat to Inter Miami, and he starts again in the front line. Alonso Martínez leads the NYCFC attack in the same 4-3-3, which puts the onus on Inter Miami's back four to track runners in behind rather than sit off.

For Inter Miami, the confirmed XI keeps the front three intact and asks the midfield trio to feed it early. With both teams in the same shape, the game is likely to be decided by which set of wide forwards pins the opposing full-back deeper, and which single pivot copes better when the ball turns over in the middle third.

Aiden O'Neill, Andrés Perea and Bénie Traoré are the other players flagged in the confirmed selections, and the midfield battle is where the identical shapes will be tested. Two 4-3-3s meeting usually produces a congested centre and a premium on the first pass out of pressure. If either midfield three can play through the opposition's first line, the front three gets isolated against a back four — and that is where Ojeda and Martínez become dangerous.

NYCFC's recent meetings with Inter Miami have been high-scoring. Wednesday night brought a 4-0 defeat, with Baltasar Rodríguez, Lionel Messi (twice) and Luis Suárez on the scoresheet. Sunday brought a 3-2 defeat, with Gonzalo Luján, Messi and Micael scoring for Inter Miami and Fernández Mercau and Ojeda replying for NYCFC. The confirmed lineups suggest both coaches want to keep that attacking intent rather than shut the game down.

With no injuries or absences reported in the confirmed team news, both managers have picked from strength. The mirror 4-3-3 means the match starts as a test of execution rather than a surprise: Inter Miami will look to get their front three running at NYCFC's back four, while NYCFC will look to Martínez to hold the ball up and bring the wide forwards into the game.

The decisive detail is the single pivot on each side. Whichever midfield three wins the second balls in the centre circle will decide which front three gets to attack a stretched back four. Kick-off is next at Nu Stadium.