Four days after facing each other at BMO Field, CF Montreal and Toronto will square off again on Saturday at Saputo Stadium for MLS Rivalry Week, in the first Canadian Classique battle of the domestic campaign.
In the Canadian Championship on Tuesday, Montreal defeated the Reds 2-1, advancing to the semi-finals and winning their fifth successive fixture in all competitions, while both teams are currently on 12 points domestically, two back of a playoff berth in the Eastern Conference.
Match preview
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Through the opening seven matches of the domestic campaign, it appeared as though Montreal had hit rock bottom, sitting dead last in the Eastern Conference with just three points while suffering six defeats without scoring, many of which were lopsided results.
To the credit of Hernan Losada and his team, however, they have rallied despite a slew of veterans out through injury and plenty of ugly performances early on, as Montreal have put themselves back in the playoff conversation, winning three straight MLS encounters without conceding once over that stretch.
Le CFM are the first team in MLS history to win three in a row after opening the regular season with five points or fewer, and if this group can keep Toronto off the scoresheet this weekend, they will set a new club record for the longest shutout streak in a single campaign since they entered the league in 2012.
Scoring first has been pivotal to their success in 2023, with Montreal holding a perfect 100% record this season when drawing first blood while losing each match in which they have conceded the opener, failing to find the back of the net on each of those occasions.
Their defensive adjustments during their current winning run have been crucial, while they have looked particularly potent when pushing their wing-backs high up the field to pressure opposing fullbacks, forcing Orlando City into numerous second-half turnovers last Saturday in a 2-0 victory.
A pair of goals four minutes apart late in the opening half on Tuesday helped put Montreal through to the final four at the Canadian Championship, while they enter this contest with back-to-back victories over the Reds at Saputo Stadium in all competitions, shutting them out each time 1-0.
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The past three domestic affairs for TFC have been littered with inconsistencies from one match to the next, with a pair of slow starts and suspect defending mixed in with their best 90-minute performance of the campaign in between.
Unfortunately for Bob Bradley, he saw his players begin slowly against the New England Revolution last week, conceding within the opening 20 minutes in a 2-0 loss, as they are now winless in 20 successive regular-season fixtures when allowing the opener.
Toronto are winless through their first five road fixtures in this competition, losing their last three MLS away contests versus Canadian opponents.
TFC have not had any issues registering shots, reaching the double-digit mark in eight straight domestic encounters, but they have struggled to get into dangerous scoring positions, notably on the road, where they have failed to find the back of the net on two occasions.
After 11 matches in the 2023 campaign, their defensive shape has been better than a year ago, but there are still spells of poor play, posting four clean sheets but also conceding multiple goals in five fixtures.
On Tuesday TFC failed to generate much against Le CFM at the Canadian Championship, registering just three efforts on target and failing to reach the semi-finals of that tournament for the first time ever.
- L
- W
- W
- W
- W
- W
Toronto form (all competitions):
- D
- D
- L
- W
- L
- L
Team News
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Montreal will be missing Joel Waterman because of a yellow card suspension, while Mason Toye (knee), Samuel Piette (adductor), Jules-Anthony Vilsaint (right leg) and Jojea Kwizera (hamstring) are all dealing with injuries.
An own-goal from Robin Jansson stood up as the winner against Orlando City, with Romell Quioto notching his 34th career regular-season goal for Le CFM, drawing even with Marco Di Vaio for the second-most goals all-time with Montreal in this competition, while Jonathan Sirois only had to make two stops for his third successive clean sheet in league play and Chinonso Offor made his 20th career MLS start.
The last time they hosted Toronto at Saputo Stadium, it was an own-goal from former TFC defender Lukas MacNaughton that gave the home team a 1-0 triumph, with James Pantemis making three saves for the shutout.
Offor and Zachary Brault-Guillard netted late in the opening half on Tuesday to send Montreal into the next round of the Canadian Championship.
Cristian Gutierrez may be questionable for TFC this weekend due to an illness, Matt Hedges is also questionable because of a knock, while Raoul Petretta, Victor Vazquez, Jordan Perruzza, Jonathan Osorio and Michael Bradley could all be unavailable once again because of lower body injuries.
Ayo Akinola has five career goals versus Montreal, Mark-Anthony Kaye leads the league in tackles won (29), while Sean Johnson is undefeated in his last 11 appearances against Le CFM in the regular season and playoffs, all of which came while he was a member of New York City FC.
Aime Mabika made his first start with Toronto at the Canadian Championship, while Lorenzo Insigne had the only goal in their defeat.
Insigne notched a brace, while Federico Bernardeschi also found the back of the net the last time they faced Montreal in this competition as TFC fell by a score of 4-3.
CF Montreal possible starting lineup:
Sirois; Corbo, Camacho, Campbell; Herrera, Lappalainen, Choiniere, Lassiter; Duke, Quioto, Offor
Toronto possible starting lineup:
Johnson; Laryea, Mabika, Rosted, Franklin; Servania, Coello Camarero, Kaye; Bernardeschi, Sapong, Insigne
We say: CF Montreal 2-1 Toronto
Montreal are figuring out how to win matches in various ways, while some of their regulars return to full fitness, and they have been much more consistent than the Reds over the past few weeks in every aspect, so we believe they will emerge victorious on Saturday.
How to watch
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Top tip
Joel Lefevre
