Making their first-ever visit to Citi Field, CF Montreal begin the month of July by facing New York City FC on Wednesday in the 21st MLS match for both sides.
This past weekend, the Pigeons moved up to fifth in the Eastern Conference with a 4-2 triumph over Orlando City, while Le CFM defeated the Philadelphia Union by that same score, putting them in 10th.
Match preview
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On Saturday, the Boys in Blue looked more like themselves, scoring four goals in a victory versus the Lions, four more than they managed to score on their recent two-game road trip.
As a result, Nick Cushing's men are well above the playoff line, 10 points ahead of Montreal, with only three points separating themselves and the New York Red Bulls in third.
So far in 2024, New York City have claimed maximum points on seven occasions at home in this competition, more than anyone in the Eastern Conference.
Two of those victories occurred at Citi Field, where the Pigeons have only suffered one defeat thus far in the 2024 regular season (2-0 versus the Colorado Rapids).
In their last three domestic affairs at home, this team have found the back of the net 11 times and have only been held off the scoresheet in one MLS encounter at Citi Field since June 2023 (2-0 loss to the Colorado Rapids in May 2024).
NYCFC have won three consecutive games versus Montreal in the regular season and playoffs, winning four successive home matches against them in this competition.
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Le CFM finally experienced something positive this past weekend, impressively ending a four-match MLS winless run in the process.
It is only the second time in their previous 15 matches across all competitions that Laurent Courtois's men were able to earn a victory.
Meanwhile, their win on Saturday was the first time in the 2024 domestic campaign that they came back to claim maximum points after conceding the opening goal.
Despite their struggles, Montreal are just two points behind Atlanta United and the final post-season berth in the Eastern Conference.
Not since March have we seen this side win consecutive league contests, following up their last two triumphs with a 2-2 draw.
Montreal are winless in their last six meeting with NYCFC across all competitions and have not claimed three points away from home against them since 2015, when they were known as the Montreal Impact (3-2 win at Yankee Stadium).
Team News
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After making his first start of the 2024 campaign in Nashville, Maxi Moralez was back on the substitutes bench for New York City this past weekend, coming on for Santiago Rodriguez in the second half.
Malachi Jones has started two of their previous three MLS contests, while Julian Fernandez was an unused substitute last weekend for a second match running.
Rodriguez put his side in front after 15 minutes against Orlando, his team-leading eighth of the domestic campaign before Hannes Wolf and Agustin Ojeda scored late in the opening half and Monsef Bakrar netted for the second time in 2024.
Fernando Alvarez missed the previous Montreal fixture due to an illness, Mason Toye sat out with a lower-body issue and Ousman Jabang was unavailable because of an adductor injury.
With Canada advancing into the knockout phase of the Copa America, Le CFM will not have Samuel Piette, Joel Waterman or Mathieu Choiniere available for selection, while Ariel Lassiter is with the Costa Rican team at that tournament.
Ruan, Dominik Yankov and Josef Martinez each found the back of the net for them on Saturday, with their other strike being an own-goal courtesy of the Union's Jack Elliott.
New York City FC possible starting lineup:
Freese; Ilenic, Martins, Risa, O'Toole; Sands, Perea; Fernandez, Rodriguez, Ojeda; Martinez
CF Montreal possible starting lineup:
Sirois; Campbell, Corbo, Sosa; Ruan, Duke, Saliba, Edwards; Yankov, Martinez; Ibrahim
We say: New York City FC 2-0 CF Montreal
The Boys in Blue have shown much more consistency and compactness defensively when compared to Montreal, which is why we project they will win another home contest in midweek.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Joel Lefevre
