With an MLS playoff berth now officially booked, CF Montreal will seek their first victory at Saputo Stadium this month when they host the Chicago Fire on Tuesday.
A late second-half surge at home to the Columbus Crew on Friday enabled Montreal to clinch a spot in the postseason, while the Fire are unbeaten in three consecutive encounters, defeating Inter Miami 3-1 on Saturday.
Match preview
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Another resilient outing for Montreal last weekend means the Canadians can rest easy knowing they will be one of seven Eastern Conference teams in the running to capture the MLS Cup this year.
For a second successive encounter, Wilfried Nancy saw his side erase a two-goal deficit, though his players waited a lot longer to score on Friday, becoming just the 12th team in league history to earn a point in a regular season affair in which they trailed by two goals entering the 89th minute, ultimately drawing the Crew 2-2.
That was the third straight game that this team had conceded the opening goal, as they have now earned 28 points in 2022 when trailing 1-0.
If Montreal can find a way to avoid defeat in three of their final four matches before the playoffs, this group would set a new franchise record for the fewest losses in a regular season campaign, eclipsing the current mark of nine set in 2016.
Throughout the year, they have had contributions across the board as 15 different players have tallied this season, while they have already set a club record for most goals scored in an MLS campaign (55).
Defensive issues continue to plague this team in 2022, conceding more goals this year (47) than they had allowed in either of their two previous MLS seasons.
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Chicago are still mathematically in the playoff hunt, but with four matches to play, six points to make up and five teams to catch, qualifying for the postseason will be a tall order.
Ezra Hendrickson's side helped their cause this past weekend, winning for the first time in six matches, scoring three goals in a game for the first time since August 6.
They have points in four of their last five road encounters, posting back-to-back clean sheets away from home, though Chicago are winless in their previous four visits to Saputo Stadium.
The previous match was the first time that the Fire had scored the opening goal in a game since July 23, having now won four in a row when drawing first blood.
They have scored the fewest goals in MLS (31), though Chicago have had several solid defensive showings this season, as they are currently tied with New York City FC for the fourth-fewest goals allowed in the Eastern Conference (39).
One area that Chicago have been fairly consistent at is their ability to hold their opponents off the scoresheet in the early stages of a match, posting a shutout in the opening half in 20 of their 30 games played this year.
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Team News
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Zachary Brault-Guillard became the first Montreal defender to score three goals this season, notching the equaliser in injury-time against the Crew, the eighth by a CF substitute this year, with Victor Wanyama notching his first of the campaign, while Matko Miljevic and Jojea Kwizera each collected their first career MLS assists.
Ismael Kone and leading goalscorer Romell Quioto were the only players to tally in a 2-0 win over Chicago in late August in a match that goalkeeper Sebastian Breza started in place of James Pantemis, with the man on loan from Bologna making four stops for a clean sheet.
Last week, Montreal loaned striker Chinoso Offor to Zulte Waregem in the Belgian Pro League, while Lassi Lappalainen continues to deal with an adductor strain.
Ahmed Hamdy remains out of the lineup because of a sore right leg, and Tomas Giraldo is not expected to be back because of a foot injury.
Jhon Duran and Xherdan Shaqiri both scored their fifth goals of the season this weekend, moving them into a three-way tie with Kacper Przybylko for first on the team.
Chris Mueller picked up his fourth assist of 2022, while Miguel Navarro notched his first of the campaign and fourth of his MLS career.
Gabriel Slonina made his 30th start in goal for Chicago, Mauricio Pineda started for a second successive fixture and Brian Gutierrez, who is tied with Mueller and Jhon Duran for second on the team in assists (three), has not set up a goal in 10 games.
Federico Navarro will be suspended for this encounter after receiving another yellow card on Sunday, while Przybylko (back), Stanislav Ivanov (right quad) and Jairo Torres are all nursing injuries.
Gaston Gimenez has an issue in his right thigh, Fabian Herbers has a sore right hip and Wyatt Omsberg is out because of a left foot injury.
CF Montreal possible starting lineup:
Pantemis; Corbo, Camacho, Brault-Guillard; Johnston, Piette, Wanyama, Mihailovic, Miljevic; Quioto, Toye
Chicago Fire possible starting lineup:
Slonina; Sekulic, Teran, Czichos, M. Navarro; Reynolds, Pineda; Gutierrez, Shaqiri, Mueller; Duran
We say: CF Montreal 1-0 Chicago Fire
The Fire have done a great job of shutting down their opponents through large portions of their matches this season, but they have a tendency to hang back and defend more often than not, and an attack as dynamic as Montreal's only need a couple of chances to make them count.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Joel Lefevre
