Playing in their final Major League Soccer home game before the start of the Leagues Cup, CF Montreal host the Chicago Fire on Saturday at Saputo Stadium.

On Wednesday, Le CFM suffered a narrow 2-1 defeat at the Philadelphia Union, to remain bottom of the Eastern Conference table, while Chicago are 10th following a 2-2 draw versus Atlanta United.

Match preview

It was another hard-fought effort for Montreal in midweek, but in the end, they came away with nothing, extending their winless run in league play to three matches.

Wednesday was the seventh time in the 2025 regular season that this team were beaten by just a single goal, putting them 17 points below the Eastern Conference playoff line after 23 matchdays.

Marco Donadel’s men have struggled to find the back of the net all season, with the second-fewest goals domestically (20), scoring a goal or fewer in nine of their 10 home fixtures in this competition.

Containing their opponents at home has proven to be a tall task for them of late, with this team conceding three or more goals in four of their previous six league fixtures at Saputo Stadium.

On the positive side, though, they have points in two of their previous three matches played across all competitions but have only lost one July fixture at home in MLS since the beginning of 2024, 4-1 to Inter Miami earlier this month.

Le CFM are unbeaten in their last seven meetings with the Fire on home soil, emerging victorious on five of those occasions, including a 2-0 win at Saputo Stadium last year.

Never short on excitement, yet another game involving Chicago saw plenty of goals and late drama earlier this week at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta.

Gregg Berhalter’s men may be a joy to watch with their high scoring and up-tempo attacking approach, but it comes with plenty of drawbacks for this team.

The Fire have scored three or more goals in six separate regular-season affairs this year but have also given up multiple strikes in 10 league fixtures thus far.

To this stage of the season, they have failed to win four matches domestically when scoring the opening goal, resulting in 10 points dropped, the difference between 10th and a place in the top five of the Eastern Conference for now.

Chicago have scored in every one of their MLS away matches this year but are winless in their last two road games in this competition, losing 2-1 at FC Cincinnati earlier this month.

Heading into matchday 23 of their season, they are three points below the Eastern Conference playoff line and have conceded in every one of their away games played in 2025.

CF Montreal Major League Soccer form:

CF Montreal form (all competitions):

Chicago Fire Major League Soccer form:

Chicago Fire form (all competitions):

Team News

In the narrow defeat versus Philadelphia, Le CFM were without Giacomo Vrioni due to a sore elbow, Jalen Neal sat out because of an ankle injury, while George Campbell missed another match and is reportedly nearing a transfer to Championship club West Bromwich Albion.

For a third consecutive MLS match, Prince Osei Owusu scored the lone Montreal goal on Wednesday, with the German netting five times this month in competitive fixtures, the only player on the team to score in July.

Lower body issues kept Carlos Teran, David Poreba and Christopher Cupps on the Chicago sidelines against Atlanta, while Justin Reynolds sat out with a head injury and Chris Mueller was once again away for personal reasons.

The Fire got an early goal from Philip Zinckernagel and a late one courtesy of Maren Haile-Selassie but gave up two second-half goals versus the Five Stripes, including one in the 94th minute to drop two points.

CF Montreal possible starting lineup:

Sirois; Bugaj, Waterman, Alvarez, Petrasso; Piette, Loturi; Sealy, Duke, Clark; Owusu

Chicago Fire possible starting lineup:

Brady; Dean, Rogers, Elliott, Gutman; Kouame, D’Avilla, Acosta; Zinckernagel, Bamba; Cuypers

We say: CF Montreal 2-4 Chicago Fire

A side as well-rounded offensively as the Chicago Fire should be able to exploit the gaps that an inexperienced side like Le CFM tend to leave at the back. and get back to winning ways.

For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.

Written by
Joel Lefevre

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