Having enjoyed a particularly strong start to the Major League Soccer campaign, CF Montreal will look to strengthen their position at the top end of the Eastern Conference on Saturday, when they travel to take on Charlotte FC.
With 17 points from their opening 10 games, the visitors sit third in the group, while their hosts find themselves just outside of the playoff places at this early stage of the season.
Match preview
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After a poor start to the season, in which they lost their first three MLS matches, Charlotte FC managed to put three wins on the board in the next four games to move into a competitive position.
The form of Miguel Angel Ramirez's side then took another dip, as they suffered 2-1 defeats to New England Revolution and Orlando City either side of a draw with Colorado Rapids before going into a meeting with Inter Miami at the weekend.
The North Carolina outfit were able to make an important return to winning ways in that game, as Andre Shinyashiki hit the only goal to ensure they took all three points.
That result means that Charlotte sit just one point outside of the playoff places in the Eastern Conference, and, on the back of a dominant 5-1 win over Richmond Kickers in the US Open Cup on Wednesday, they will go in search of a third straight victory with the aim of climbing into the top seven.
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However, their visitors arrive looking to build on a formidable start to the season, having quickly established themselves at the top end of their Conference.
Wilfried Nancy's side actually stumbled out of the blocks at the beginning of the campaign, losing their first three games and drawing the fourth.
They quickly kicked into gear though, firstly ending that winless run with three straight victories before taking a commendable point from a 1-1 draw away at Conference leaders Philadelphia Union.
They now head into the weekend having added another two notches to their wins column since that draw, most recently thrashing Orlando City 4-1 thanks to goals from Joel Waterman, Dorde Mihailovic, Joaquin Torres and Zachary Brault-Guillard.
With that result putting them in a strong position in third place in the Eastern Conference, just two points off top spot, Nancy's side will look to further cement their status as one of the leading sides with another win on Saturday.
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Team News
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Charlotte FC still have a couple of selection concerns to deal with, as the likes of Adam Armour and Vinicius Mello are set to continue spells on the sidelines.
They did recently welcome winger Yordy Reyna back to action, though, and he has laid his claim for a starting place on Saturday with a goal in the thrashing of Richmond Kickers.
Currently the only player in the squad with more than one MLS goal to his name this season, Karol Swiderski will continue to lead the line, having found the net four times in 10 games thus far.
CF Montreal may look to deploy an unchanged side after last week's dominant win, with Ismael Kone and Mason Toye unlikely to return to full fitness in time to contend.
Having both got on the scoresheet last time out, Joaquin Torres and Dorde Mihailovic should again flank a lone striker, while Zachary Brault-Guillard will hope his goal off the bench will be enough to earn him a starting berth.
Charlotte FC possible starting lineup:
Kahlina; Lindsey, Corujo, Fuchs, Mora; Bronico; Gaines, Ruiz, Bender, Jozwiak; Swiderski
CF Montreal possible starting lineup:
Breza; Waterman, Camacho, Miller; Brault-Guillard, Choiniere, Piette, Lappalainen; Torres, Mihailovic; Quioto
We say: Charlotte FC 1-2 CF Montreal
While Charlotte will be pleased with their return to winning ways last time out, CF Montreal have enjoyed the far stronger start, and we see their momentum carrying them to another win with top spot in their sights.
Data Analysis
Our analysis of all available data, including recent performances and player stats up until an hour before kickoff, suggested the most likely outcome of this match was a Charlotte FC win with a probability of 45.32%. A win for CF Montreal had a probability of 28.93% and a draw had a probability of 25.7%.
The most likely scoreline for a Charlotte FC win was 1-0 with a probability of 10.76%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 2-1 (9.13%) and 2-0 (8.02%). The likeliest CF Montreal win was 0-1 (8.21%), while for a drawn scoreline it was 1-1 (12.24%). The actual scoreline of 0-2 was predicted with a 4.7% likelihood. Our team at Sports Mole correctly predicted that CF Montreal would win this match.
