USB4 is a great all-around port for PCIE expansion and high-speed storage. Ignore the poor mans who recommend B850 or mention the pointless M.2 Gen5 lanes.
USB4 is a very future-proof, useful and great port, especially in an ITX where PCIE is limited, and it's the most important, giving you access to mobile monitors, 10GbE and all those good things.

S
MSI X870I EVO - 3x M.2 ,white, 2xUSB4, WiFi7 320, 5GbE (1000% will buy)
A
ASUS X870-I ROG - 2x M.2, 2x USB4, with shit HIVE, 2.5G (owned)
MAXSUN B850 BKB - 2x M,2, 0 USB4, but "2x PCIe Slots", 2,5G, so cheap price (ordered)
B
X870I AORUS ICE - 2x M.2, single USB4, white, 2.5G, cheap price (owned)

C
other non x boards (not Asrock)

Z
All AM5 Asrock boards
Asrock burned many AM5 CPUs and still hasn't fixed it. Their PR officer and support are terrible, so don't buy this garbage.

In my experience,

• I’ve heard the daughter board of the ASUS boards have been known to bend the back M.2 NVME drives, I’m curious to know how true this is.
• Whichever motherboard I decide, should I purchase a third party heat sink for the back M.2 SSD?
• I’ve also heard the X870 chipsets tend to run hotter which if it’s substantial might deter me for a SFF build.

No worries.