CF Montreal are back home after a disappointing road trip, as they play their first match of the season at Saputo Stadium on Saturday versus DC United.
Last weekend, Montreal suffered their second successive lopsided defeat of the Major League Soccer campaign, falling 4-0 to the New England Revolution, while the Black and Red extended its winless run to six games, dropping a 2-0 decision at the Columbus Crew.
Match preview
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Just when you thought things could not get any worse for Le CFM, it was another dismal showing for the Canadian outfit a week ago, losing a fifth away match of the year.
A season on from their best-ever MLS regular season, we knew there would be pressure on this team to maintain their status as cup contenders, but their intensity and level of play have taken a considerable downfall to this point of the campaign.
With a mere three points in their opening six matches, Montreal are bottom of the Eastern Conference, and Hernan Losada is on the hot seat as his side have been a step behind their opponents in most of their outings thus far, conceding a league-high 16 goals, while scoring in only one match all year.
As bad as it looks for them at the moment, they will have plenty of opportunities to reverse their fortunes in the coming weeks, as four of the next five league fixtures for Le CFM take place at Saputo Stadium, where they earned points in their final three regular-season encounters of 2022.
In addition to that, their remaining matches this month are all against teams currently on the outside of the playoff picture (DC United, the New York Red Bulls and Sporting Kansas City), so if Losada wants to rescue himself from an early sacking, his side need to start collecting points and show signs of life.
In the past seven regular season campaigns, Montreal have suffered just one defeat at home to DC United, conceding only once against them at Saputo Stadium since 2019.
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Another side in decline at the moment would be DC United, though their situation is a little different as they continue to try to rebuild under Wayne Rooney.
That process began promisingly with an opening victory at home to Toronto, but they have gone backwards since then, failing to score in consecutive contests, with just five points after seven games, their lowest tally to this stage of a regular season since 2018 (five).
Consistently playing from behind is not a great recipe for success, but that is the scenario the Black and Red have found themselves in time and again this season, leading for fewer than 20 minutes since winning its debut encounter this year.
In 2022, they failed to find the back of the net in 10 away encounters, and that form has not improved much this year, with DC scoring in only one of their three road contests to date. However, if they can keep Montreal at bay this weekend, it would be their second clean sheet away from home on the season, equalling their mark from the previous campaign.
Three of their next four matches in this competition will be on the road, all versus Eastern Conference opponents, two of which (Montreal and Charlotte) are below them in the standings, and as bad as it looks right now, they are just three points out of a wildcard berth.
Rooney has attempted to push his fullbacks up the field more and create numerical advantages out wide, though his side have had difficulty coming up with an end product while also struggling to break up their opponents' transition moments.
Team News
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Montreal will be without Mason Toye for six to eight weeks because of a knee injury, captain Samuel Piette is out for that same amount of time with a left leg strain, Lassi Lappalainen missed the previous match for the same reason, Jules-Anthony Vilsaint has a sore right leg, Jojea Kwizera is recovering from a pulled hamstring, James Pantemis remains sidelined because of a shoulder injury, Matko Miljevic will be doubtful due to a problem in his knee and George Campbell might not be fully recovered from his sprained ankle.
The club made a trade this week, sending defender Kamal Miller and $1.3m (£1m) in General Allocation Money (GAM) to Inter Miami in exchange for Bryce Duke and Ariel Lassiter.
Rudy Camacho is eligible to return from his red card suspension, while Mathieu Choiniere featured in his 80th regular season game last Saturday and also made his 50th career start, becoming the MLS leader in matches played for a home-grown player.
Chris Durkin, Derrick Williams and Brendan Hines-Ike will all be questionable for DC this weekend due to foot issues, Nigel Robertha continues to recover from an illness, Andy Najar is dealing with tightness in his thigh and Martin Rodriguez will not be available because of a knee injury.
Lewis O'Brien made his Black and Red debut in their defeat versus the Crew, leading the team with five interceptions, top goalscorer Christian Benteke won 11 duels in that contest, more than any DC player, while also registering four shots inside the box, and Pedro Santos returned to the starting lineup for the first time since their March encounter with Orlando City.
Donovan Pines, who led them in clearances with four, scored an own goal in their previous outing at Montreal last season when they were beaten 1-0.
CF Montreal possible starting lineup:
Sirois; Waterman, Camacho, Corbo; Herrera, Duke, Wanyama, Iliadis; Ibrahim; Quioto, Offor
DC United possible starting lineup:
Miller; Ruan, Birnbaum, Pines, Jeahze; Santos, Canouse, Morrison, Klich; Fountas, Benteke
We say: CF Montreal 2-1 DC United
Saturday will be the first time Losada faces DC United since being sacked by them in the early portion of last season, and we expect his current side to be extra motivated to deliver him a victory, while their midweek trade should serve as a wake-up call to these veterans to pick up their game.
DC still have not figured out how to create chances, which is unfortunate because Benteke has been a solid attacking presence, but without a midfield general to give him balls in good shooting positions, the Belgian's quality has gone to waste.
How to watch
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Top tip
Joel Lefevre
