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Montreal Impact
Major League Soccer
Sep 3, 2023 at 12.30am UK
Stade Saputo
Columbus Crew

Montreal
2 - 4
Columbus Crew

Opoku (52'), Vilsaint (68')
Jabang (18'), Miljevic (90+4')
FT(HT: 0-3)
Corbo (14' og.), Camilo Hernandez (22', 43', 65' pen.)
Yeboah (29'), Amundsen (46'), Schulte (86')

Preview: CF Montreal vs. Columbus Crew - prediction, team news, lineups

Sports Mole previews Saturday's Major League Soccer clash between CF Montreal and Columbus Crew, including predictions, team news and possible lineups.

CF Montreal will welcome back a familiar face to Saputo Stadium this weekend as they begin a three-game homestand on Saturday when they battle the Columbus Crew.

Le CFM had a three-match winning run in MLS end on Wednesday, losing 2-0 at New York City FC, while the Crew were beaten domestically for the first time since mid-July, 2-0 against the Houston Dynamo.


Match preview

CF Montreal celebrate after the win on June 21, 2023© Reuters

A lack of intensity in the opening half on Wednesday ultimately proved to be too much for Montreal to overcome, as they found themselves behind 2-0 at half time against New York City, failing to score for the 10th time away from home in this competition.

Hernan Losada's men return home where they have been much sharper defensively in 2023, collecting seven clean sheets in MLS play, including the last time out when Le CFM did not allow a single shot on target versus the New England Revolution, winning 1-0.

Despite losing the last time out, Montreal still find themselves in a decent position down the stretch of the regular-season, five points above the Eastern Conference playoff line in eighth, with eight matches to come.

From leading the league in road victories, a year ago (11), this team have been among the best at home in 2023, winning the third-most matches in MLS (nine).

Montreal have executed the direct transitional approach employed by Losada to significant effect at home, where this team have not conceded a single effort on target in two successive domestic outings and have never given up more than one goal in an MLS encounter played at Saputo Stadium this year.

They have only suffered one defeat in their last nine home games against the Crew, with Le CFM scoring twice in the final few minutes of this exact fixture last season, erasing a 2-0 deficit to collect a 2-2 draw.

Columbus Crew head coach Wilfried Nancy looks on on June 18, 2023© Reuters

Wilfried Nancy returns to a city he called home for over a decade as the Frenchman began his coaching career in the Montreal Academy system in 2011, rising up the ranks to become manager in 2021, while guiding Le CFM to their best-ever MLS regular season regarding points (65) and wins (20) a year ago.

He has had similar success since joining the Crew, guiding them to 12 victories domestically this season, two more than they had in 2022, while Columbus are only four points shy of matching their total from a year ago (46).

Nancy has brought a similar transitional approach in Columbus to the system we saw him implement while in charge of Montreal, and that seems to have unlocked his new side's scoring potential, with the Crew netting the most goals in the Eastern Conference this season (50).

That quality, however, was in short supply on Wednesday with the Crew held off the scoresheet in Houston, as Columbus failed to score for only the second time in the 2023 regular-season.

One thing that Nancy has not been able to replicate from his days in Montreal to Columbus is success away from home, where the Crew have won just twice domestically all year, tied with his former club for the third-fewest road victories in the league this season.

Columbus are 12 points above the Eastern Conference playoff line in fifth but have not come away with three points at Montreal since 2017 (3-2) with the Crew winless in their last four visits to Saputo Stadium, failing to score in three of those encounters.

CF Montreal Major League Soccer form:

CF Montreal form (all competitions):
  • W
  • W
  • L
  • W
  • W
  • L

Columbus Crew Major League Soccer form:


Columbus Crew form (all competitions):
  • W
  • W
  • L
  • W
  • W
  • L



Team News

CF Montreal head coach Hernan Losada looks on during the second half on April 9, 2023© Reuters

Aaron Herrera was ruled out of the Montreal lineup on Wednesday because of an ankle sprain, Romell Quioto is still recovering from a hamstring injury, Lassi Lappalainen featured in the starting 11 for the first time since June 10, while Samuel Piette collected his 151st career MLS cap, equalling Patrice Bernier for the most among field players with this club since they joined Major League Soccer.

Since the club dealt Rudy Camacho to Columbus during the summer transfer window, Joel Waterman, Gabriele Corbo and George Campbell have started as a back three in the last three regular season encounters for Le CFM, with the latter netting the only strike in their previous home victory against the Revs, as Jonathan Sirois did not have to make a single stop for his seventh clean sheet at Saputo Stadium this year.

Victor Wanyama and Zachary Brault-Guillard netted in their come from behind draw against the Crew at home last season.

Will Sands missed the previous match for Columbus because of a knee injury, while Malte Amundsen was suspended due to yellow card accumulation.

On Wednesday, Jacen Russell-Rowe had a two-match scoring run end when the Dynamo shut them out, the first time this club had failed to find the back of the net since selling their top goalscorer over the previous two MLS campaigns, Lucas Zelarayan, to the Saudi Pro League.

The former Crew midfielder had netted in each of their previous two matches played against Le CFM, as he and ex-defender Jonathan Mensah scored in this exact fixture last year, with Steven Moreira having a goal contribution in his previous two encounters versus Montreal.

CF Montreal possible starting lineup:
Sirois; Campbell, Waterman, Corbo; Brault-Guillard, Piette, Choiniere, Lappalainen; Duke; Offor, Opoku

Columbus Crew possible starting lineup:
Schulte; Moreira, Camacho, Amundsen; Gressel, Nagbe, Morris, Yeboah; Russell-Rowe, Rossi; Hernandez


SM words green background

We say: CF Montreal 1-2 Columbus Crew

Trading away a couple of centre-backs in Camacho and Kamal Miller earlier this season has left Le CFM relatively thin at that position, and fatigue could play a factor for that backline this weekend given how much they still have to play for and so much defensive inexperience on this roster outside of their new back three.

Nancy knows this Montreal side well and should be able to create an effective game plan to expose his former team on the counter.

How to watch

You can watch CF Montreal vs. Columbus Crew and every MLS match this season live on Apple TV. Click here for more details on how to subscribe.

For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.

Top tip

Our expert tipster partners at Sporita.com are predicting under 3.5 goals in this match. Click here to find out what else they are predicting for this game and for more of their tried-and-tested football tips.Under 3.5:data


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Written by
Joel Lefevre

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Game History

How you voted: Montreal vs Columbus Crew

CF Montreal
33.3%
Draw
0.0%
Columbus Crew
66.7%
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Eastern Conference

TeamPWDLFAGDPTS
1Inter MiamiInter Miami34228479493074
2Columbus Crew34199672403266
3FC CincinnatiCincinnati341851158481059
4Orlando City34157125950952
5Charlotte FCCharlotte FC34149114637951
6New York City FCNY City34148125449550
7New York Red BullsNY Red Bulls34111495550547
8CF MontrealMontreal341110134864-1643
9Atlanta UnitedAtlanta341010144649-340
10DC United341010145270-1840
11Philadelphia UnionPhiladelphia34910156255737
12Toronto34114194061-2137
13Nashville SCNashville3499163854-1636
14New England RevolutionNew England3494213774-3731
15Chicago Fire3479184062-2230

Western Conference

TeamPWDLFAGDPTS
1Los Angeles FCLos Angeles34197863432064
2Los Angeles GalaxyLA Galaxy34197869501964
3Real Salt LakeSalt Lake341611765481759
4Seattle SoundersSeattle34169951351657
5Houston DynamoHouston34159104739854
6Minnesota UnitedMinnesota Utd34157125849952
7Colorado RapidsColorado34155146160150
8Portland TimbersPortland341211116556947
9Vancouver WhitecapsVancouver34138135249347
10Austin FCAustin34119143948-942
11Dallas34118155456-241
12St Louis City34813135063-1337
13Sporting Kansas CityKansas3487195166-1531
14San Jose EarthquakesEarthquakes3463254178-3721


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