Inter Miami will look to extend their unbeaten run to four games when they host CF Montreal at DRV PNK Stadium in Florida on Wednesday.
The Canadian side have started the season brightly, going unbeaten in three of their first four games and currently sitting eighth in the Eastern Conference standings of Major League Soccer.
Match preview
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After squandering two leads in their opening match to the LA Galaxy, The Herons have responded nicely, scoring late to earn a draw last weekend versus Atlanta United.
Phil Neville has been pleased with the transition and counter-attacking play of his team, but he also said he wants to see more quality in the final third.
The former Manchester United defender has a demanding schedule to contend with, with his team playing the second of three games in a week.
This will be only the second time they have played Montreal in the regular season, as Brek Shea scored the lone goal in a 2-1 loss in 2020 in a match played at Red Bull Arena.
Wilfried Nancy could not have asked for a better start to his managerial career with CF Montreal, as his side have surprised everyone in the early stage of this season.
His team appears to have bought into his defensive-first approach while trying to catch their opposition in transition, something they did effectively in the opening match victory against Toronto FC.
They may be used to the cold conditions in Canada, but Montreal have shown they can handle the brutal Florida heat, as they are temporarily playing their home matches at DRV PNK Stadium.
The sweltering heat has not affected their play, as they are unbeaten in Florida so far in the regular season, winning their opener and drawing 0-0 with the defending MLS Cup champions.
Montreal have started the season losing just one of their opening four matches, an encouraging sign for a team that lost 13 times in the 2020 regular season.
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Team News
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Centre-back Ian Fray remains sidelined for The Herons with a cruciate ligament injury, which means we can expect to see Nicolas Figal start in his place alongside Leandro Gonzalez.
Miami were happy to see winger Lewis Morgan, the team leader in goals and assists from 2020, score for the first time this season last weekend.
Montreal centre-back Luis Binks, with an unknown injury, is unlikely to play, and winger Mathieu Choiniere remains out for the long term with an ankle injury.
Defensive midfielder Zachary Brault-Guillard has shown the ability to contribute offensively, scoring his first career MLS goal earlier this season and leading the team in assists so far.
Inter Miami possible starting lineup:
McCarthy; Jones, Gonzalez, Figal, Leerdam; Matuidi, da Silva; Robinson, Pizarro, Morgan; G. Higuain
CF Montreal possible starting lineup:
Diop; Waterman, Camacho, Miller; Brault-Guillard, Piette, Wanyama, Kizza; Mihailovic; Hurtado, Toye
We say: Inter Miami 2-2 CF Montreal
Both teams will feel right at home at DRV PNK Stadium, with both sides off to a strong start this season and eager to maintain their unbeaten runs.
Miami have a lot of experience at their disposal, but Montreal are proving a lot of people wrong with their strong counter-attacking style that has caught a lot of their opponents off guard.
Top tip
Joel Lefevre
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 Inter Miami win with a probability of 51.85%. A draw had a probability of 24.9% and a win for CF Montreal had a probability of 23.21%.
The most likely scoreline for a Inter Miami win was 1-0 with a probability of 12.01%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 2-0 (9.66%) and 2-1 (9.52%). The likeliest drawn scoreline was 1-1 (11.85%), while for a CF Montreal win it was 0-1 (7.38%). The actual scoreline of 0-2 was predicted with a 3.6% likelihood.
