FC Cincinnati welcome CF Montreal to the TQL Stadium on Thursday looking to end of a run of eight games without a victory.
Meanwhile, Montreal head into the clash in search of back-to-back triumphs having returned to winning ways last time out.
Match preview
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Montreal ended a five-game winless streak courtesy of a dramatic 2-1 victory over New York Red Bulls at the Saputo Stadium on Sunday.
Patryk Klimala kept his cool from 12 yards to put Wilfried Nancy's men behind going into half time only for Ibrahim Sunusi to come off the bench and restore parity with 19 minutes left to play.
The game was eventually decided in stoppage time where Victor Wanyama, after two unsuccessful attempts by Bjorn Johnsen and Mason Toye, fired home from the penalty spot to hand his side all three points.
With just over half of the season gone, Thursday's visitors continue to occupy the last playoff spot in the Eastern Conference and have a two-point lead over nearest challengers Columbus Crew.
Awaiting them next is a fixture in which they have not fared well of late, winning just one of the last five previous encounters, but that victory came in the most recent meeting on July 18.
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Cincinnati were involved in a share of the spoils for the third consecutive outing following a 1-1 draw versus Orlando City SC on August 8.
Jaap Stam's men went into the interval with a slender advantage courtesy of Brenner's goal just before half time, but Nani scored 10 minutes after the restart to even the affair.
Albeit with two games in hand, The Orange and Blue are bottom but one in the Eastern Conference and have a sizable 10-point deficit to make up if they are to reach the playoffs for the first time ever.
Thursday's hosts are the only team in the entire division without a home victory this term, and now is as good a time as any to break that duck.
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Team News
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Montreal's Lassi Lappalainen and Ballou Tabla are down with groin injuries and will play no part in their side's trip to Ohio.
Goalkeeper James Pantemis is still unavailable for the visitors as he remains in isolation after entering MLS' COVID–19 protocol.
Thirty-year-old Romell Quioto is set to sit out a seventh consecutive game due to a muscle injury he picked up on international duty.
Zico Bailey and Calvin Harris continue to nurse knee and hip injuries respectively and are not expected to play any part for the home team in Thursday's contest.
Dutch defender Maikel van der Werff is yet to make his first appearance of the season as he is yet to recover from a hernia problem.
FC Cincinnati possible starting lineup:
Tyton; Matarrita, Vallecilla, Cameron, Hagglund; Cruz, Kubo, Acosta; Gyau, Brenner, Barreal
CF Montreal possible starting lineup:
Breza; Struna, Camacho, Miller; Choiniere, Wanyama, Maciel, Guillard; Mihailovic, Toye, Torres
We say: FC Cincinnati 1-1 CF Montreal
While Cincinnati have found wins hard to come by of late, they have also made it a habit of avoiding defeat, so we are backing another share of the spoils in this one which should leave neither team too dissatisfied.
Top tip
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 CF Montreal win with a probability of 36.74%. A win for FC Cincinnati had a probability of 35.54% and a draw had a probability of 27.7%.
The most likely scoreline for a CF Montreal win was 0-1 with a probability of 11.05%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 1-2 (7.9%) and 0-2 (6.68%). The likeliest FC Cincinnati win was 1-0 (10.82%), while for a drawn scoreline it was 1-1 (13.08%). The actual scoreline of 0-0 was predicted with a 9.2% likelihood.
