CF Montreal will welcome back a familiar face to Saputo Stadium this weekend as they begin a three-game homestand on Saturday when they battle the Columbus Crew.
Le CFM had a three-match winning run in MLS end on Wednesday, losing 2-0 at New York City FC, while the Crew were beaten domestically for the first time since mid-July, 2-0 against the Houston Dynamo.
Match preview
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A lack of intensity in the opening half on Wednesday ultimately proved to be too much for Montreal to overcome, as they found themselves behind 2-0 at half time against New York City, failing to score for the 10th time away from home in this competition.
Hernan Losada's men return home where they have been much sharper defensively in 2023, collecting seven clean sheets in MLS play, including the last time out when Le CFM did not allow a single shot on target versus the New England Revolution, winning 1-0.
Despite losing the last time out, Montreal still find themselves in a decent position down the stretch of the regular-season, five points above the Eastern Conference playoff line in eighth, with eight matches to come.
From leading the league in road victories, a year ago (11), this team have been among the best at home in 2023, winning the third-most matches in MLS (nine).
Montreal have executed the direct transitional approach employed by Losada to significant effect at home, where this team have not conceded a single effort on target in two successive domestic outings and have never given up more than one goal in an MLS encounter played at Saputo Stadium this year.
They have only suffered one defeat in their last nine home games against the Crew, with Le CFM scoring twice in the final few minutes of this exact fixture last season, erasing a 2-0 deficit to collect a 2-2 draw.
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Wilfried Nancy returns to a city he called home for over a decade as the Frenchman began his coaching career in the Montreal Academy system in 2011, rising up the ranks to become manager in 2021, while guiding Le CFM to their best-ever MLS regular season regarding points (65) and wins (20) a year ago.
He has had similar success since joining the Crew, guiding them to 12 victories domestically this season, two more than they had in 2022, while Columbus are only four points shy of matching their total from a year ago (46).
Nancy has brought a similar transitional approach in Columbus to the system we saw him implement while in charge of Montreal, and that seems to have unlocked his new side's scoring potential, with the Crew netting the most goals in the Eastern Conference this season (50).
That quality, however, was in short supply on Wednesday with the Crew held off the scoresheet in Houston, as Columbus failed to score for only the second time in the 2023 regular-season.
One thing that Nancy has not been able to replicate from his days in Montreal to Columbus is success away from home, where the Crew have won just twice domestically all year, tied with his former club for the third-fewest road victories in the league this season.
Columbus are 12 points above the Eastern Conference playoff line in fifth but have not come away with three points at Montreal since 2017 (3-2) with the Crew winless in their last four visits to Saputo Stadium, failing to score in three of those encounters.
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Team News
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Aaron Herrera was ruled out of the Montreal lineup on Wednesday because of an ankle sprain, Romell Quioto is still recovering from a hamstring injury, Lassi Lappalainen featured in the starting 11 for the first time since June 10, while Samuel Piette collected his 151st career MLS cap, equalling Patrice Bernier for the most among field players with this club since they joined Major League Soccer.
Since the club dealt Rudy Camacho to Columbus during the summer transfer window, Joel Waterman, Gabriele Corbo and George Campbell have started as a back three in the last three regular season encounters for Le CFM, with the latter netting the only strike in their previous home victory against the Revs, as Jonathan Sirois did not have to make a single stop for his seventh clean sheet at Saputo Stadium this year.
Victor Wanyama and Zachary Brault-Guillard netted in their come from behind draw against the Crew at home last season.
Will Sands missed the previous match for Columbus because of a knee injury, while Malte Amundsen was suspended due to yellow card accumulation.
On Wednesday, Jacen Russell-Rowe had a two-match scoring run end when the Dynamo shut them out, the first time this club had failed to find the back of the net since selling their top goalscorer over the previous two MLS campaigns, Lucas Zelarayan, to the Saudi Pro League.
The former Crew midfielder had netted in each of their previous two matches played against Le CFM, as he and ex-defender Jonathan Mensah scored in this exact fixture last year, with Steven Moreira having a goal contribution in his previous two encounters versus Montreal.
CF Montreal possible starting lineup:
Sirois; Campbell, Waterman, Corbo; Brault-Guillard, Piette, Choiniere, Lappalainen; Duke; Offor, Opoku
Columbus Crew possible starting lineup:
Schulte; Moreira, Camacho, Amundsen; Gressel, Nagbe, Morris, Yeboah; Russell-Rowe, Rossi; Hernandez
We say: CF Montreal 1-2 Columbus Crew
Trading away a couple of centre-backs in Camacho and Kamal Miller earlier this season has left Le CFM relatively thin at that position, and fatigue could play a factor for that backline this weekend given how much they still have to play for and so much defensive inexperience on this roster outside of their new back three.
Nancy knows this Montreal side well and should be able to create an effective game plan to expose his former team on the counter.
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