In their 2025 Major League Soccer home opener, Minnesota United host CF Montreal on Saturday for the first time at Allianz Field.
Both sides suffered narrow defeats in their regular season openers, with the Loons losing 1-0 to Los Angeles FC and Atlanta United beating Montreal 3-2.
Match preview
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For a good portion of their season opener, Minnesota frustrated the Black and Gold with a textbook low block approach that kept them at bay until the latter stages.
Eventually, however, the Loons conceded 12 minutes before the 90, having only 35% of the possession and one effort on target when the final whistle blew.
Eric Ramsay's men have lost their last three matches by a single goal, failing to score in their previous two encounters versus MLS opposition.
Minnesota have not lost their opening two regular-season fixtures since 2021, when they suffered four consecutive defeats to begin that MLS campaign but recovered in time to make the playoffs.
Counting the 2024 playoffs, the Loons have won their previous three MLS games at Allianz Field, including their last two regular-season home affairs.
Their only previous home fixture versus Montreal came when they played at TCF Bank Stadium in 2018, claiming a 2-0 triumph against them that season.
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Just like we saw in the 2024 wild card round, Montreal fought from behind against Atlanta last weekend but ultimately fell just short.
It marked the third consecutive time that this team had failed to win their regular-season opener, while they have now lost their last two away matches in this competition dating back to the previous campaign.
Laurent Courtois won his first away match against a Western Conference side last year (2-1 to Dallas), but his team also suffered two lopsided defeats at the Colorado Rapids (4-1) and the Seattle Sounders (5-0) in 2024.
Since a 4-2 come-from-behind win over the Philadelphia Union last June, Montreal are winless in nine straight regular-season encounters when conceding the opening goal.
Down the stretch of the 2024 domestic campaign, they showed a lot more resilience after a loss and have not suffered consecutive defeats in the league since August.
Le CFM have lost three of their four all-time meetings with the Loons in this competition but claimed a 4-0 triumph the last time the two sides met at Saputo Stadium in 2023.
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Team News
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In their opening match of the regular season, Minnesota were missing DJ Taylor and Kipp Keller, who were both dealing with thigh injuries, while Jefferson Diaz sat out with a red card suspension but is eligible to return on Saturday.
Wil Trapp made his first appearance for the Loons on matchday one, going the full 90 minutes in central midfield, as fellow newcomers Jeong Ho-yeon and Nicolas Romero were unused substitutes.
On matchday one, Montreal did not have Jules-Anthony Vilsaint or Jalen Neal at their disposal due to sore knees, while Giacomo Vrioni sat out because of a groin strain.
Nathan-Dylan Saliba and Prince Owusu found the back of the net for them in Atlanta, with the latter scoring his first as a member of Le CFM.
Minnesota United possible starting lineup:
St. Clair; Hlongwane, Harvey, Boxall, Duggan, Markanich; Dotson, Trapp, Lod; Yeboah, Oluwaseyi
CF Montreal possible starting lineup:
Sirois; Campbell, Waterman, Alvarez; Marshall-Rutty, Saliba, Piette, Duke; Opoku, Owusu, Clark
We say: Minnesota United 1-0 CF Montreal
The Loons were strong defensively at home down the stretch of the 2024 regular season and playoffs, and we believe they will be able to shut down a Montreal side that are traditionally slow starters in the early stages of a new campaign.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Joel Lefevre
