Inter Miami CF are well aware of the dangers that can come with playing a struggling opponent that is intent on getting on the right track.
Phil Neville's group were just in that situation in their last game against FC Cincinnati, pulling out a 3-2 win in a wild match that saw them relinquish a 2-0 lead before Gonzalo Higuain came to the rescue with an 85th-minute game-winner.
With a matchup against a Chicago Fire FC side that is currently 0-4-1 and second from the bottom on the Eastern Conference table next on the docket on Saturday at Soldier Field (6 pm ET | UniMas, TUDN, Twitter) Neville said that he doesn't believe that Chicago's record is necessarily reflective of their quality, and that it's up to his team to make sure they don't look past any opponent.
"That's the thing we've been hammering home this week about complacency," Neville told reporters on his Thursday video call. "Nobody knocks on your door and gives you three points, you've got to earn it, and I think we're playing against a team that's really dangerous. I think they're a team that's got really good attacking players with a really good system. They play some fantastic football, they try and play top-end football. And if we're not as compact or we lack concentration and switch off for moments like we did against Cincinnati, we'll get punished."
Added midfielder Federico Higuain: "It doesn't matter who we play, we know we represent a club who wants to be big in this league. So every time we have an opportunity to play a game, we want to perform, we want to compete. We look at this game with the same energy we look at Cincinnati. We know it's going to be a difficult game, it's going to be an interesting game for us. We want to repeat the performance we had against Cincinnati and we want to get the three points."
Looking ahead, Inter Miami could also be nearing a cleaner bill of health.
Neville updated the status of several of his team's injured contributors who could be nearing a return to the field. The coach said that right back Kelvin Leerdam, center back Nicolas Figal and forward Robbie Robinson are all on a positive trajectory.
"In terms of the squad, good news, we think: Leerdam, Figal, Robinson all trained today," Neville said. "We're just going to make sure they come through training tomorrow."
