Preview: CF Montreal vs. Houston Dynamo - prediction, team news, lineups

The Eastern Conference's CF Montreal welcome the Western Conference's Houston Dynamo to the Saputo Stadium for a huge game in MLS on Wednesday night.

Both clubs are in the hunt for playoff places but are not over the line yet with just three games to go.

Match preview

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Montreal come into the fixture occupying the final playoff place in the East, a spot that would secure them a place in the preliminary round which decides the final last 16 spot.

With Portland Timbers and Columbus Crew still to come as well, it certainly will not be easy for Montreal to cling onto ninth spot.

Those two sides may already have their playoff spots secured before facing Montreal though, which could provide a minor advantage to the Canadians.

In case of a tie on points in MLS, the team with the highest number of wins comes out on top, and Montreal's tally of 11 is unlikely to be matched by any side below them.

That is useful given how tight the table currently is, and also because only Toronto and Colorado Rapids - the two sides bottom of the respective conferences - have a worse goal difference than Montreal's -18.

Scoring just 30 goals so far is another worrying statistic, as out of all 29 MLS sides, once again only Toronto and Colorado have a worse record.

That goes some way to explain why Montreal have lost 16 of their 31 MLS matches this season, but they are still in the driving seat for the final playoff spot.

NYCFC are currently in the other preliminary round spot with 38 points, Montreal are joined by DC United and Chicago Fire on 37, while the threatening Inter Miami are down on 33, meaning it is still far from over though.

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Meanwhile, recent US Open Cup winners Houston still have a bit of work to do in the devilishly tight Western Conference.

Winning 2-1 in Inter Miami's own backyard to seal cup glory was understandably celebrated, but there is still work to do, and they trudged to an uninspiring 0-0 draw with FC Dallas on Saturday.

That extended a run of just one win in five games, but Houston have lost only once since the mid-season break, in a very disappointing defeat to 10-man Sporting Kansas City.

In those eight matches since the break, Houston have conceded just four, keeping an impressive five clean sheets.

Ben Olsen's men now need just two points to seal a playoff spot, but the race for the top seven and a spot directly in the first round is hot, as five points separate second from ninth.

Facing Colorado at home after this outing will be huge given their struggles cut adrift at the bottom, but travelling to and from Canada from Texas in midweek could take its toll.

Team News

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Joel Waterman will return from suspension for Montreal after he sat out the Orlando City encounter following a red card against Atlanta United.

On the injury front, Jules-Anthony Vilsaint, Aaron Herrera (both ankle) and Robert Orri Thorkelsson are all out but could return in time for the playoffs should they get there.

Romell Quioto made his first start in almost five months up front in Florida at the weekend, but he was taken off after just 45 minutes.

Chinonso Offor and Kwadwo Opoku are both likely to come back into the side in attack after only starting on the bench against Orlando.

Visitors Houston will be able to welcome back both Luis Caicedo and Griffin Dorsey after the duo sat out the draw at Dallas with yellow-card-related suspensions.

An ACL injury means Tate Schmitt will not feature until the new year, while Ifunanyachi Achara is a few weeks away from a return with a knee injury of his own.

CF Montreal possible starting lineup:

Sirois; Campbell, Corbo, Alvarez; Brault-Guillard, Saliba, Piette, Choiniere; Hamdi, Offor, Opoku

Houston Dynamo possible starting lineup:

Clark; Sviatchenko, Hadebe, Micael; Escobar, Caicedo, Herrera, Dorsey; Carrasquilla, Baird, Bassi

We say: CF Montreal 1-2 Houston Dynamo

It is usually very good or very poor with Montreal, with their 11 wins and 16 defeats from 31 MLS games this season, but with the pressure on against tough opposition, this could be a struggle.

The post-cup-win hangover can be forgiven after an uneventful draw at the weekend, but Houston could well return to winning ways here.

How to watch

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