CF Montreal will be aiming to pick up a third league win on the bounce when they play host to Austin FC at the Saputo Stadium on Sunday.
On the other hand, the away side make the journey looking to avoid a third consecutive defeat and possibly end a three-game winless streak
Match preview
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Montreal came out on top in arguably the game of the season so far which was a thrilling 4-3 affair against FC Cincinnati on May 29.
After going behind to Junior Moreno's opener, Wilfried Nancy's men raced to a 3-1 lead thanks to goals from Joel Waterman, Romell Quioto and Mathieu Choiniere before Quioto added a second just shy of the hour mark to render strikes from Alvaro Barreal and the aforementioned Moreno inconsequential.
The Impact sit third in the Eastern Conference at the moment, three points shy of league leaders New York City FC, albeit having played an extra game.
Their next task is a first-ever meeting against an Austin side who are in only their second season in the top tier of American football.
Having won five of their last six matches on home turf, Sunday's hosts will head into this weekend's game with the wind in their sails.
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Austin FC fell to a disappointing 4-1 defeat in a club friendly against Mexican outfit Pachuca at the Q2 Stadium in Texas on Sunday.
First-half strikes from Roberto de la Rosa, Nicolas Ibanez, Gustavo Cabral and Jesus Hernandez left Josh Wolff's men with a mountain to climb after which Sebastian Driussi netted a second-half consolation goal.
Prior to that, Los Zanates were beaten convincingly by Los Angeles Galaxy but currently occupy fourth spot in the Western Conference standings.
Sunday's visitors, who have scored the joint-most away goals in the division, will be looking to turn on the attacking style on the road once again as they seek to arrest a mini slump in form.
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Team News
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Montreal's Mason Toye remains sidelined with a long-term shoulder problem which has seen him ruled out of action for over 10 months.
The hosts will also be without the services of Tomas Giraldo and Bjorn Johnsen, who miss out through muscle and ankle injuries respectively.
Twenty-three-year-old Djordje Mihailovic is a huge doubt for Sunday's game having lasted just 16 minutes in his side's last outing before he was subbed off.
With goals in each of his last two outings away from home, Uruguayan forward Diego Fagundez will be looking to come up trumps for Austin FC once again.
Top scorer Sebastian Driussi is walking a suspension tightrope here as he currently sits one yellow card away from picking up a one-game ban.
CF Montreal possible starting lineup:
Breza; Miller, Camacho, Waterman; Johnston, Choiniere, Wanyama, Lappalainen; Torres, Hamdi, Miljevic
Austin FC possible starting lineup:
Stuver; Kolmanic, Gabrielsen, Cascante, Jimenez; Ring, Pereira; Fagundez, Driussi, Wolff; Urruti
We say: CF Montreal 2-1 Austin FC
The sides have had no difficulty finding the back of the net, so we expect goals at both ends in the one. That said, we also fancy Montreal to narrowly edge out Austin and emerge triumphant come the sound of the final whistle.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
