New York Red Bulls welcome Canadian outfit CF Montreal to the Red Bull Arena on Saturday, when the hosts could go top of the Eastern Conference having already collected 10 points from their first five matches.
Meanwhile, Montreal have endured a poor start to this year's MLS campaign, winning just once but that victory did come in their last outing which will be something the visitors will want to build on.
Match preview
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Gerhard Struber's side were fortunate last weekend when they secured a 1-0 victory on the road against New England Revolution, having to rely on a 90th-minute own goal from Revolution midfielder Matt Polster to hand the three points to the visitors.
That victory shows that they can come out on the correct side of a close game, but another positive to take from Sunday was their first clean sheet of the season, despite the Revolution creating some good chances on goal.
After netting seven goals in their opening two matches this year, New York Red Bulls have managed just one goal per game since then and are still looking for their first victory on home soil.
Struber's side have managed three wins from three away matches this season, but have recorded just one point from their two games on their own patch, a stat that they will be desperate to change on Saturday.
To go top of the Eastern Conference this weekend, they will have to rely on Philadelphia Union losing to Columbus Crew, but nonetheless, the Red Bulls will want to continue to gain a margin between themselves and the teams below seventh spot.
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Wilfried Nancy's side suffered a disappointing start to the season, losing their first three games, but a draw before the international break was then followed up by another entertaining encounter last weekend.
Montreal had to score three goals against Atlanta United just to gain one point, but they went one better last time out by coming out on top in a 4-3 win against Cincinnati.
The Canadian outfit had to come from behind twice to ensure that they were 3-2 ahead at half time, and after being pegged back again just after the restart, Joaquin Torres found the winner in the 67th minute.
Nancy will be desperate for his side to tighten up defensively and not ship another three goals this weekend, but they can be confident of securing three points as they have shown a big threat in an attacking sense across their last two games.
A fifth away game of the campaign awaits Montreal on Saturday, but if they can continue to pick up points on their travels, they should take a lot of positives from that as their home form should complement their away record.
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Team News
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Midfielder Frankie Amaya has started every game for Struber's side this season, but he will be unavailable for selection this weekend after being sent off against New England.
Wikelman Carmona, Cameron Harper and Andres Reyes are all sidelined due to injury but there is no new injury concerns for the hosts ahead of Saturday's outing.
The Red Bulls will operate with a back three including Aaron Long, Sean Nealis and Tom Edwards, while John Tolkin and Lewis Morgan will provide the width from their wing-back roles.
There is a whole host of players in Montreal's physio room, with Ahmed Hamdi, Mason Toye, Samuel Piette and Tomas Giraldo all ruled out of this encounter, with Bjorn Johnsen and Mathieu Choiniere recently joining that list.
Montreal will also utilise a back three, but they are also expected to name a front three including Djordje Mihailovic, Kei Kamara and Torres.
Victor Wanyama and Ismael Kone will continue in the middle of the field for the visitors, and they offer an attacking threat as well, having contributed to four goals between them.
New York Red Bulls possible starting lineup:
Miguel; Long, Nealis, Edwards; Tolkin, Yearwood, Casseres Jr, Morgan; Fernandez; Klimala, Barlow
CF Montreal possible starting lineup:
Breza; Miller, Camacho, Waterman; Lappalainen, Wanyama, Kone, Johnston; Mihailovic, Kamara, Torres
We say: New York Red Bulls 1-2 CF Montreal
New York have not been as good on their own patch as they have been away from home, and Montreal are in good scoring form which could give them the edge this weekend.
After netting seven goals in their last two games, which have both come on their travels, Montreal are certainly expected to get on the scoresheet a couple of times, and the Red Bulls may not be able to come up with enough of a response to rescue a point.
Top tip
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 New York Red Bulls win with a probability of 50.84%. A draw had a probability of 25.6% and a win for CF Montreal had a probability of 23.54%.
The most likely scoreline for a New York Red Bulls win was 1-0 with a probability of 12.62%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 2-0 (9.73%) and 2-1 (9.35%). The likeliest drawn scoreline was 1-1 (12.12%), while for a CF Montreal win it was 0-1 (7.86%). The actual scoreline of 1-2 was predicted with a 5.8% likelihood. Our team at Sports Mole correctly predicted a 1-2 win for CF Montreal in this match.
