Nashville SC will attempt to win back-to-back games for the first time this season when they host CF Montreal on Saturday at Nissan Stadium.
On Wednesday, an injury-time goal helped Nashville win for the first time in their last three matches, while Montreal are unbeaten in their previous two contests after playing to a 0-0 draw on Wednesday with DC United.
Match preview
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They have not made it easy on themselves, but Nashville are in their position, sitting in sixth in the Eastern Conference because they were determined to climb back into a match.
Nashville have been forced to chase the majority of their games so far, going down 2-0 four times and conceding the opening goal in five of their nine fixtures.
On Wednesday, they fell behind twice to Toronto FC but clawed their way back, thanks to substitute Luke Haakenson, who notched the equaliser in the 83rd minute before scoring the winner in the second minute of injury time.
Lately, when they have found the back of the net, it seems to spark the offence as they scored twice in three minutes versus Atlanta United and then notched two in nine minutes against Toronto.
Manager Gary Smith will want to see his side tighten up defensively, as they have conceded multiple goals in their last three outings but have still managed to salvage some points in two of those encounters.
Already in just nine games, Nashville have conceded multiple goals in five fixtures, which is one more than they had in their entire regular season campaign in 2020.
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There may not be a team in MLS that have faced as many challenges this season as CF Montreal, but despite all of that, they are still in the hunt for a playoff berth.
Manager Wilfried Nancy started the opening training session without half of his first team, who were on international duty, they had only two friendlies before the regular season and they were forced out of Montreal because of COVID-19 and are currently playing their home fixtures in Fort Lauderdale at DRV PNK Stadium.
On Wednesday, they were reduced to 10 men at the end of the first half but were able to hang on to earn a point against the Black-and-Red.
Despite all of their setbacks, this team are only a point back of a playoff spot and are unbeaten in their last two matches, losing consecutive games only once so far in 2021.
Montreal are a young team who are still learning what it takes to earn points in this league, but they need to find a way to create more quality scoring opportunities.
They have scored a goal or less in their last four fixtures, firing four shots or fewer or target in every one of those encounters.
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Team News
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Nashville striker Jhonder Cadiz is unavailable as he remains with the Venezuelan national team for the Copa America going on in Brazil.
Fellow striker Daniel Rios is still recovering from a foot injury that has kept him out of the lineup since March, and midfielder Brian Anunga is out with a knee injury sustained back in May.
Walker Zimmerman, the Defender of the Year in MLS last season, missed their match with TFC with an apparent abductor injury.
Defender Daniel Lovitz will face his former side, having featured for two seasons with the Canadian squad before being traded to the music city in November 2019.
Montreal will be without left-back Zorhan Bassong after he collected two yellow cards in the final 10 minutes of the first half of their last match on Wednesday.
Defensive midfielder Victor Wanyama is also suspended after receiving a caution in each of his last two fixtures.
Goalkeeper Clement Diop performed heroically on Wednesday, making five saves for his third shutout of the season.
The Senegalese keeper picked an injury late in their match with DC United but was forced to stay on the field as his team were out of substitutions.
Nashville SC possible starting lineup:
Willis; Johnston, Washington, Romney, Lovitz; LaGrassa, McCarty, Godoy, Nealis; Haakenson, Mukhtar
CF Montreal possible starting lineup:
Pantemis; Miller, Camacho, Bayiha; Brault-Guillard, Piette, Sejdic, Kizza; Mihailovic, Hamdy; Johnsen
We say: Nashville SC 1-1 CF Montreal
These sides have met once this season, with Nashville erasing a two-goal deficit to draw 2-2, so there is some familiarity between these teams, who both have a defensive-minded approach.
Montreal have only allowed nine shots on target in their last three road matches, so expect the chances to be at a premium between two teams who are separated by only two points in the Eastern Conference table.
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 Nashville SC win with a probability of 53.51%. A draw had a probability of 25.9% and a win for CF Montreal had a probability of 20.57%.
The most likely scoreline for a Nashville SC win was 1-0 with a probability of 14.43%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 2-0 (10.98%) and 2-1 (9.16%). The likeliest drawn scoreline was 1-1 (12.03%), while for a CF Montreal win it was 0-1 (7.91%). The actual scoreline of 1-1 was predicted with a 12% likelihood.
