Austin FC and CF Montreal will both be looking to bounce back from defeats last weekend when the two sides lock horns at the Q2 Stadium in the early hours of Sunday morning.
Both sides finished second in their respective conferences last term, with the Verde and Black being one of the surprise stories, making it to the Western Conference Final, while Montreal were eliminated by New York City in the Eastern Conference semi-finals.
Match preview
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Following such a successful 2022 campaign, where they earned a spot in the CONCACAF Champions League (CCL) for the first time in club history, Austin FC must now withstand something utterly unfamiliar to them in Major League Soccer, the pressure of maintaining their status as a quality side.
The Verde and Black enjoyed a memorable sophomore season, earning 56 points in 2022, a 25-point increase from their debut campaign.
However, Saint Louis City stunned Josh Wolff's side in their opening clash of the 2023 season, winning 3-2 at the Q2 stadium, courtesy of a late strike from Brazilian striker Joao Klauss.
Tim Parker gave the Missouri outfit a historic lead before strikes from Sebastian Driussi and Jon Gallagher put Austin in the driving seat and on their way to their first three points of the season.
The visitors then found the most unlikely of equalizers from Jared Stroud, gift-wrapped on an ill-advised back pass by Kipp Keller, before Klauss's winner four minutes from time.
It is not the start that Wolff will have envisioned, and they face a tough test this weekend against a Montreal side that possessed a fantastic away record last season of 11 wins in 17 games, scoring 33 goals in the process.
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Montreal enjoyed an excellent 2022 season, finishing second in the division with 65 points, just two points behind table-toppers Philadelphia Union, before they were beaten by New York City in the semi-finals of the MLS Cup playoffs.
However, Montreal have been dealt a tough hand in 2023, losing head coach Wilfred Nancy to Columbus Crew, and the club lost three key players in the winter transfer window, which showed in their opening match.
Much like their opponents this weekend, Hernan Losada's side were defeated in their opening fixture of the 2023 campaign, suffering a 2-0 loss at the hands of Inter Miami.
Serhiy Kryvtsov broke the deadlock for Miami four minutes before the interval, before Shanyder Borgelin's strike put the final nail in the coffin in the 76th minute.
Losada will be encouraged by the fact that Montreal had a brilliant away record last season, and the CFM ended the 2022 campaign as the division's form team, as they were unbeaten in their final six games of the campaign, winning five of those matches and scoring 14 goals.
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Team News
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Austin head into this clash without any significant injury news and will be counting on Gyasi Zardes to shoulder the scoring load this season, with the American finding the back of the net nine times for the Colorado Rapids last season.
Jon Gallagher could be rewarded with a place in the starting XI this weekend after he found the back of the net against Saint Louis from the substitutes' bench.
Sebastian Driussi was the target man up front for the Verde and Black throughout the 2022 campaign, scoring 22 goals, and he opened his account against Saint Louis, so we expect him to retain his place in the starting XI here.
As for the visitors, Aaron Herrera made his debut for Montreal last time out, so he looks set to retain his place here, while it remains to be seen whether James Pantemis will retain his place between the sticks after he was substituted against Inter Miami with a potential arm injury.
Matko Miljevic is expected to be on the treatment table for around 12 weeks after undergoing surgery for a tear to the meniscus in his left knee.
Austin FC possible starting lineup:
Stuver; Lima, Vaisanen, Cascante, Kolmanic; Pereira, Wolff; Rigoni, Driussi, Fagundez; Zardes
CF Montreal possible starting lineup:
Sirois; Waterman, Camacho, Miller; Herrera, Piette, Wanyama, Lappalainen; Saliba; Ibrahim, Quioto
We say: Austin FC 2-0 CF Montreal
Both sides enjoyed fantastic campaigns last year, but with Montreal losing key players in the off-season, we think that Austin will take the three points here.
The Verde and Black will be looking to respond to last week's defeat, and we think that they will have too much firepower for Montreal.
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