MLS All-Stars vs. Liga MX All-Stars: Form Guide and Final Predictions

The Major League Soccer All-Stars will battle for bragging rights against the Liga MX All-Stars for the second straight season on Wednesday night.

The MLS All-Star Game pits the best in MLS against the top players from the Mexican top flight in a 90-minute exhibition inside Allianz Field in St. Paul, Minnesota.

The MLS All-Stars won the first iteration of the format last season, when they took the victory in penalty kicks.

In previous years, the MLS All-Stars would face a European team travelling during preseason, but those matches offered little in competitiveness because the big clubs from Europe would not play many of their stars.

The MLS All-Star Game still lacks intensity, but it does come with slightly higher stakes because the league has a rivalry with Liga MX that has heated up over the last 12 months.

---

MLS All-Star Game Preview

The best players in MLS and Liga MX will be on show through the 90 minutes at Allianz Field, but most of the All-Stars will be on the field for a maximum of 45 minutes.

The MLS starters, who were voted into the event by fans, should play most of the first half and then give way to mass substitutions from manager Adrian Heath, who coaches host club Minnesota United.

Two-time MLS Goalkeeper of the Year Andre Blake and two-time MLS Defender of the Year Walker Zimmerman headline the MLS starting defense.

The MLS front line is a who's who of the best attacking talent in the league, starting with Austin FC's Sebastián Driussi, who leads the league with 16 goals.

The 26-year-old Argentine will get to combine with FC Dallas pair Paul Arriola and Jesus Ferreira, as well as New England assist machine Carles Gil, as part of the starting attack group.

The chemistry between Arriola and Ferreira, as well as the form of Driussi, could help the MLS team get on the board in the first half.

The Liga MX roster features three of the eight top scorers from the previous season, but the big omission is André-Pierre Gignac, who scored 14 goals for Tigres. He was second in the Golden Boot race behind Germán Berterame.

Berterame will be the most dangerous forward in the Liga MX lineup. He bagged 16 goals for Atletico San Luis last season and earned a move to Monterrey, where he already has three goals in five games to start the new campaign.

All of the forward talent across both rosters leads you to believe goals may come in bunches, but that is not what happened last year in Los Angeles.

The MLS and Liga MX All-Stars scored one goal each and the exhibition went to penalty kicks, where the MLS side won 6-5.

Some All-Star teammates have built-in chemistry from playing alongside each other regularly, but that is not the case for most of the XI that will be thrown on the field at any juncture of the match.

It may take a while for the starters on both sides to get used to timing and runs in the final third, which can be vital to creating space to score in a competitive match.

Of course, with this being an All-Star Game, one or two moments of brilliance are not out of the question, but you also have to realize the goalkeepers are the best in their respective leagues as well.

The lack of training time between teammates could show in the first 10-15 minutes, and then the game could slow down in the second half with waves of substitutions happening at every turn.

The All-Star Game will be a tremendous display of talent, but do not expect a high-scoring affair, especially with so many players entering and exiting the pitch in the second period.

MLS has the quality up top to score in the first half, but it may just be one goal that will be the difference-maker over 90 minutes.

Prediction: MLS 1, Liga MX 0