The first all-Canadian matchup of the 2023 Major League Soccer campaign will feature the Vancouver Whitecaps at BC Place Stadium on Saturday to face CF Montreal.
A last-gasp equaliser deep into injury time helped the Caps earn a 1-1 draw at Minnesota United, while Montreal scored with an equally late strike two weeks ago, claiming their first victory of the campaign, 3-2 over the Philadelphia Union.
Match preview
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Much of the season so far in Vancouver has been about blown leads, but in Minnesota, it was the opposite, as they conceded the opening goal for the first time all year but were able to rescue themselves in dramatic fashion, levelling the match in the 98th minute.
That was the third successive domestic encounter in which Vanni Sartini saw his side play to a 1-1 draw, as the Caps have scored a single goal in every MLS match played this year.
Although it was their first positive result in Minnesota in over three years, it will feel like a loss for this team, who had a total of 23 shots but failed to make most of their opportunities count.
They are five games into the season, and one of the recurring themes which continues to creep up with the Caps is their lack of quality or killer instinct in the attacking third of the field.
Vancouver have been uncharacteristically disappointing at home in the early portion of the season, with just one point from two games, and they are in danger of going winless in three successive league fixtures at BC Place for the first time since 2019.
The Whitecaps have beaten Montreal in five of their last six matches played in Vancouver, coming away with a 2-0 triumph the last time out in 2021.
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It took a lengthy double video review and plenty of anxious moments in between, but Hernan Losada finally got his first victory with Montreal a couple of weeks ago.
After getting off to the perfect start at Olympic Stadium, taking the lead in the third minute, it looked as though the top Canadian team in the regular season a year ago would come up short, as they trailed 2-1 heading into stoppage time before scoring twice.
While adjusting to Losada's vertical approach has taken some time, Montreal put together a much stronger all-around performance against the Union, scoring three goals in a regular season encounter for the first time since October 2022.
Some second-half substitutions and tactical tweaks from Losada helped reverse his team's fortunes versus Philly after they had lost their opening three matches of 2023, failing to score on each occasion.
Montreal were the best road team in MLS a year ago, winning 11 matches in the regular season, but they have had some rough outings as the visitors this year, having been outscored 5-0 in three matches and failing to fire an effort on target the last time out at Nashville SC.
Dating back to the 2022 Major League Soccer campaign until now, CF Montreal have won seven consecutive encounters when netting first.
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Team News
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The Whitecaps got some good news and some bad news last weekend, the bad being that Sergio Cordova, who came to Vancouver just before the beginning of the season, will miss the next six to eight weeks with a calf strain, while the good news was the fact that Deiber Caicedo saw the field for the first time since undergoing right knee meniscus surgery, replacing Cristian Dajome for the final eight minutes plus stoppage time against the Loons.
Ryan Gauld suffered a knock in their previous encounter and was replaced by Pedro Vite after an hour, though all reports suggest that it is not severe, while Andres Cubas and Javain Brown were not available after being called up to the Paraguayan and Jamaican national teams, respectively.
Simon Becher rescued the Caps versus the Loons, scoring his first of the campaign deep into stoppage time after entering the game in place of Sebastian Berhalter for the final 20-plus minutes.
Kamal Miller was taken out of the previous match for Montreal with a calf strain, Jojea Kwizera is dealing with a sore hamstring, James Pantemis continues to recover from a dislocated shoulder, Matko Miljevic has a tender knee and George Campbell remains out due to an ankle injury.
Romell Quioto notched a brace in their victory versus the Union, including the match-winner, putting him at 33 all-time with the club, while Chinonso Offor scored his first as a member of Montreal 11 minutes after coming on for Mason Toye.
Jonathan Sirois picked up his first victory in goal in their last outing, stopping five of the seven shots that he faced, and Rida Zouhir was in the starting lineup for the first time in 2023.
Vancouver Whitecaps possible starting lineup:
Takaoka; Blackmon, Veselinovic, Laborda; Brown, Gressel, Cubas, Schopf; Gauld; White, Caicedo
CF Montreal possible starting lineup:
Sirois; Waterman, Camacho, Herrera; Lappalainen, Piette, Wanyama, Brault-Guillard; Kwizera, Offor; Quioto
We say: Vancouver Whitecaps 1-1 CF Montreal
At the moment, neither side look nearly as convincing as they did last season, but they have both generated some positive results of late.
That being said, we do not believe that either have more momentum than the other heading into this weekend, which is why we are calling for a stalemate.
How to watch
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Top tip
Joel Lefevre
