A pair of teams performing below their standards from a year ago will face each other for the first time in the 2023 MLS campaign this Saturday as CF Montreal wrap up their home stand with a date against the New York Red Bulls at Saputo Stadium.
After seven matches this season, Le CFM have already suffered six defeats, falling 1-0 at home to DC United last weekend, while New York came back to draw the Houston Dynamo 1-1, their second successive result by that score.
Match preview
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The pressure is mounting on Hernan Losada to get Montreal back on the right track, and at the moment, they do not look anywhere near as good as a year ago.
A lapse in concentration early in the second half against DC proved costly as this team have failed to score in three successive fixtures, which is exactly how they began the 2023 campaign.
Quality has been in short supply for them thus far, scoring the second-fewest goals in the league (three), while failing to find the back of the net in six outings, which is already one more than their entire 2022 regular season.
With that defeat last weekend, they are now in danger of losing back-to-back contests in the regular season at Saputo Stadium for the first time since 2020, when they were known as the Montreal Impact.
Over the past few campaigns, Montreal have got progressively worse defensively, conceding more in each season since 2020, and the aggressive approach of Losada has not been working so far, as his team have allowed more goals than anyone in MLS (17).
On Tuesday, they moved a step closer to reclaiming the Canadian Championship for the first time since 2021, advancing into the quarter-finals with a 2-0 win over Vaughan Azzuri from League One Ontario.
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Times have been tough for the entire New York Red Bulls organisation, who have been under heavy scrutiny since one of their players was suspended for making racist comments in their draw versus the San Jose Earthquakes (1-1).
That is not the kind of publicity that Gerhard Struber or the club would have wanted, nor was it ideal to see just over half of Red Bull Arena filled last Saturday against the Dynamo, with numerous fans walking out because of the aforementioned incident.
In their eight fixtures this year, Struber has seen his side concede first on six occasions, though six of their eight points thus far have come from losing positions.
It is very uncharacteristic to see the fortress known as Red Bull Arena as quiet and empty as we saw it last weekend, and it is equally unusual to see this team have as much of the ball as we saw versus Houston, with New York having 65.4% of the possession, the highest in a match for them since July 2020 against FC Cincinnati (67.7%).
During the off-season, the Red Bulls were busy trying to find a number nine, bringing in three strikers, but their problems in the attacking third remain, tied for the second-fewest goals scored in the Eastern Conference this year (six).
So far in 2023, New York look very different from the high-pressing team we have become accustomed to seeing, showing plenty of impatience in the build-up, while they have rarely been able to create turnovers in dangerous areas of the field, something which has been the bread and butter of this group since the appointment of Struber.
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Team News
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Romell Quioto and Jules-Anthony Vilsaint are dealing with right leg issues for Montreal, Lassi Lappalainen continues to be plagued with a problem in his left leg, Mason Toye and Matko Miljevic have knee injuries and Samuel Piette remains sidelined because of an adductor strain.
Jojea Kwizera is out with a pulled hamstring, James Pantemis will not be available as he recovers from a serious shoulder issue and George Campbell has an ankle injury.
Rudy Camacho was back in the lineup last Saturday following his one-match suspension, Bryce Duke played the full 90 minutes as he and Ariel Lassiter made their first appearances for Le CFM since being traded a week ago from Inter Miami, with the Canadian side giving up General Allocation Money (GAM) and Kamal Miller to acquire the two strikers.
Dante Vanzeir served the first match of his six-match ban for the Red Bulls after publicly apologising for a racial slur uttered during their game against the Quakes, Luquinhas sat out of their game last week with an adductor strain and Frankie Amaya has a sprained ankle.
Steven Sserwadda is unlikely to feature because of a knee strain, Matt Nocita and Serge Ngoma are recovering from sore hamstrings and Lewis Morgan remains sidelined due to a hip injury.
Omir Fernandez scored in the 89th minute last week to give New York a single point, his first of the season, while newcomers Vanzeir, Elias Manoel and Cory Burke have just one goal between the three of them to this point of the campaign.
CF Montreal possible starting lineup:
Sirois; Herrera, Camacho, Waterman; Brault-Guillard, Wanyama, Iliadis, Rea; Duke, Ibrahim, Lassiter
New York Red Bulls possible starting lineup:
Coronel; Reyes, S. Nealis, Tolkin; Duncan, Casseres, Edelman, Harper; Fernandez; Barlow, Manoel
We say: CF Montreal 0-0 New York Red Bulls
Neither have shown much quality in the attacking third to this point of the season, nor have they created many opportunities, so given the form and low morale of each, we do not expect much excitement in this one.
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