CF Montreal can claim consecutive away victories in MLS on Saturday for the first time since March 2024 when they travel to Inter & Co Stadium for a date with Orlando City.

Thanks to a 2-2 draw at Charlotte FC, the Lions held onto sixth place in the Eastern Conference, while Le CFM remain bottom of the table following a 4-1 loss at home to Inter Miami.

Match preview

For a side as talented as Orlando City are, they have had some peculiar results of late, collecting just seven points from their last six league games, dropping points to Charlotte and Atlanta United, two sides currently on the outside of the post-season picture.

However, the Lions have suffered just one defeat in their last four domestic home contests, earning five points this year when conceding the opening goal.

Oscar Pareja’s men are in danger of suffering three straight home defeats on Saturday for the first time since March to April of the 2023 domestic campaign.

After 21 league fixtures, the Lions have found the back of the net 39 times, the second-most in the Eastern Conference and just three fewer than the leaders in that category, Inter Miami.

At the same time, they have not always been super sharp at the back on home soil, conceding multiple goals on five occasions at Inter & Co Stadium this year, allowing three or more in three of those instances.

Orlando City are unbeaten in their previous five meetings versus Montreal in this competition and have not lost any of their last five home games against them.

Things were looking good for Montreal after a half hour last Saturday, but as we have come to expect it was too good to be true for them yet again.

Up by a goal after only two minutes, Le CFM gave up four unanswered strikes to the Herons, losing for the first time domestically in 2025 when netting the opener, dropping five points this year in that position.

Eight of their 14 points in the regular season have occurred away from home and this weekend Marco Donadel’s men can win consecutive league contests on the road for the first time since March 2024.

Montreal have not won an MLS affair as the visitors in July since the 2022 season when they hung onto a 2-1 result in the US capital versus DC United.

While they have given up the most goals in the Eastern Conference this year (40), some of their better defensive outings were away from home with Le CFM allowing a goal or fewer on six occasions.

They have points in three of their previous four outings versus Orlando City but have not claimed maximum points away from home against them since 2021 (4-2).

Orlando City Major League Soccer form:

CF Montreal Major League Soccer form:

CF Montreal form (all competitions):

Team News

A shoulder injury kept Duncan McGuire out of the Orlando City lineup last weekend, Joran Gerbet was sidelined with a thigh strain and Alexander Freeman was unavailable because of the CONCACAF Gold Cup, though he should b available on Saturday.

This weekend the Lions will be without Pedro Gallese and Robin Jansson for this contest, both of whom will be suspended due to yellow card accumulation.

Ramiro Enrique and Marco Pasalic scored 11 minutes apart in the second half last week, enabling them to rescue a point against the Crown.

An ankle issue kept Fabian Herbers and Jalen Neal out of the Montreal squad against Miami, while Giacomo Vrioni was sidelined because of an elbow injury.

The club made a move on Tuesday signing Thomas Gillier on loan for the remainder of the season, with the Chilean coming over from Italian Serie A side Bologna, though he is not eligible to play until July 24.

Prince Osei Owusu had the opening goal for them last week, with the German leading the team with eight domestically in his first campaign at Le CFM.

Orlando City possible starting lineup:

Otero; Thorhallsson, Schlegel, Brekalo, Santos; Pasalic, Atuesta, Araujo, Ojeda; Enrique, Muriel

CF Montreal possible starting lineup:

Sirois; Alvarez, Waterman, Campbell, Petrasso; Sealy, Loturi, Piette, Pearce; Owusu, Clark

We say: Orlando City 0-0 CF Montreal

For some reason, the Lions tend to struggle against sides near the bottom of the table, and we expect to see a spirited Montreal team bounce back and hold off an Orlando unit who have been difficult to comprehend this year.

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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