CF Montreal can end a nine-match winless run in all competitions on Wednesday when they host DC United at Saputo Stadium for the first time in the 2024 MLS campaign.
Their 0-0 draw at home to Nashville SC has given Le CFM 13 points in the regular season, five fewer than DC in the race for the final Eastern Conference playoff spot after the Black and Red earned a 1-1 result against the Chicago Fire.
Match preview
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Since their second-half collapse in Chicago in the middle of March (4-3 defeat), not much has gone right for Laurent Courtois's side.
Montreal have only one victory in their previous 13 matches in all competitions, claiming just one point in their five domestic encounters played this month.
Currently, on a seven-match winless run in this competition, this team would set a new club record for the longest run without a regular-season victory in the MLS era if they fail to win on Wednesday.
On a more positive note, however, Montreal - who have conceded more goals than anyone in the Eastern Conference this year (31) - posted just their third clean sheet of the domestic campaign this past weekend.
Le CFM have already lost twice domestically at Saputo Stadium in 2024, which is half as many regular-season home defeats as they suffered a year ago, dropping five points at home in MLS over this campaign when netting the opening goal.
It has been nearly two years since they last came away with all three points in a match against DC, defeating them by a 1-0 score at Saputo Stadium in 2022.
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For the second time this month and the fifth time domestically in 2024, the Black and Red failed to hold onto a second-half lead this past weekend.
That adds up to 11 points dropped when leading in the final 45 minutes this year, with Troy Lesesne's men currently in ninth rather than third in the Eastern Conference.
DC United will match their longest winless run of the 2024 regular season if they fail to come away with maximum points on Wednesday (four).
The Black and Red lost their previous away fixture in this competition (1-0 versus Inter Miami), though they have not suffered consecutive road defeats in the regular season since July-August 2023 (two).
DC have points in six of seven MLS away matches this year but have lost two of their previous three games as the visitors domestically, failing to score in both of those defeats.
They have defeated Montreal in three of their previous four regular-season meetings while claiming consecutive shutout victories against them in all competitions at Saputo Stadium.
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Team News
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Ousman Jabang missed another Montreal encounter this past weekend due to an adductor issue, Mason Toye was sidelined with a sore hamstring, Raheem Edwards did not feature because of a problem in his abdomen and Nathan-Dylan Saliba was unavailable due to a hip injury.
Lassi Lappalainen remains a question mark with a knock, Josef Martinez continues to deal with a problem in his knee, Matias Coccaro has a leg injury and Kwadwo Opoku is nearing a return from the injured list.
Ruan collected his 120th career MLS cap on Saturday, Bryce Duke made his 100th league appearance and Jonathan Sirois stopped four shots against the Boys in Gold for his third clean sheet of the 2024 domestic campaign.
Over the weekend, DC were without Martin Rodriguez because of a minor knock, Russell Canouse missed their previous encounter due to a health issue, while Conner Antley is likely out for the season because of a torn ACL.
Captain Steve Birnbaum played the full 90 minutes against the Fire despite being questionable ahead of time with a knock, while Tyler Miller is still looking to make his first appearance of the season after being injured before the 2024 campaign began.
Christopher McVey notched his first goal of the domestic campaign on Saturday, while Christian Benteke is goalless in three successive domestic encounters, netting a team-leading 12 times in MLS this year.
CF Montreal possible starting lineup:
Sirois; Campbell, Waterman, Alvarez; Ruan, Choiniere, Piette, Sosa; Duke, Yankov; Ibrahim
DC United possible starting lineup:
Bono; Bartlett, Birnbaum, McVey; Herrera, Klich, Pirani, Dajome; Fletcher, Benteke, Ku-DiPietro
We say: CF Montreal 1-0 DC United
Although they failed to emerge victorious on Saturday, Montreal were a lot sharper on the back end, and we believe that Le CFM will manage to defeat a side in DC, who have not been as decisive in the attacking third of late and have rarely won away from home.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Joel Lefevre
