The Vancouver Whitecaps will play host to CF Montreal on Saturday at BC Place Stadium in the first all-Canadian matchup of the 2025 Major League Soccer season.
A late goal last Sunday lifted the Caps to a 2-1 victory over the Los Angeles Galaxy, while Le CFM suffered another narrow defeat, losing 1-0 to Minnesota United.
Match preview
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Early signs in 2025 indicate the Vancouver Whitecaps could be in for a big year, winning their opening two MLS affairs of the campaign.
On Saturday, Jesper Sorensen can achieve something no Caps manager has ever done in their MLS era, win the opening three matches of the regular season.
They have not been behind in any of their league games so far in 2025, winning their last two competitive home games by a combined margin of 4-1.
Last season, the Whitecaps won just one of their six regular-season affairs against Eastern Conference opposition, defeating Toronto 4-0 at home in early April.
Including the 2024 playoffs, Vancouver have won their last four MLS encounters when netting multiple times, winning those four games by a combined margin of 14-2.
The Caps have won their last four matches versus Montreal at home across all competitions, posting consecutive clean sheets against them at BC Place.
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Over in Montreal, the start of the regular season has not been nearly as good, with this team suffering two narrow defeats and dropping to the bottom of the Eastern Conference as a result.
They are currently the only side without a point in the East, and on Saturday, they will try to avoid losing three straight regular-season contests for the first time since July-August 2024 (three).
A defeat on Saturday would mark the third time in the last four MLS campaigns that Le CFM will have lost their first three matches to begin a season.
Laurent Courtois's team won their last six matches in this competition last year when netting the opening goal, though Montreal have not led for a single minute in the 2025 regular season thus far.
Le CFM have yet to score an opening-half goal this season, and they won their last five MLS encounters of 2024 when doing so a year ago.
Montreal have not beaten the Whitecaps at BC Place since 2020, when they claimed a 4-2 triumph in a match played behind closed doors because of COVID.
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Team News
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In their victory over the Galaxy, Vancouver were without Bjorn Inge Utvik due to a lower body issue, while Emmanuel Sabbi was sidelined once again because of an ankle injury.
Sam Adekugbe put them in front after just two minutes last weekend, with Brian White scoring his first of the new MLS campaign, three minutes from the end.
Le CFM captain Samuel Piette and George Campbell are questionable, as they are both dealing with lower body issues, while their big off-season signing Giacomo Vrioni continues to recover from a groin strain.
Since arriving from the Ukrainian Professional League, Hennadiy Synchuk has yet to feature, while Jalen Neal may have to miss another game with a knee injury.
Vancouver Whitecaps possible starting lineup:
Takaoka; Laborda. Veselinovic, Blackmon, Adekugbe; Vite, Cubas, Berhalter; Ahmed, White, Gauld
CF Montreal possible starting lineup:
Sirois; Alvarez, Waterman, Petrasso; Marshall-Rutty, Saliba, Duke, Clark; Opoku, Owusu, Vilsaint
We say: Vancouver Whitecaps 3-1 CF Montreal
The Caps are brimming with confidence and firing on all cylinders in this competition, and we expect to see another strong attacking display, as it appears Sorensen has unlocked this group's raw potential.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Joel Lefevre
