Two sides in need of a spark in their respective MLS campaigns square off on Saturday as the New York Red Bulls host CF Montreal at Red Bull Arena.
A 2-1 loss versus DC United dropped the Red Bulls into ninth in the Eastern Conference, while Le CFM are still winless on the year, drawing 0-0 with Orlando City a week ago.
Match preview
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Playing a DC side hampered by a Christian Benteke injury early on, Sandro Schwarz will feel like his Red Bulls missed a big opportunity to earn points last week.
They suffered their first home defeat of the campaign in that outing, and this weekend, they could lose consecutive regular-season affairs at Red Bull Arena for the first time since September to October 2024 (two).
New York have a mere four points from their last four MLS fixtures and are just barely holding onto the final wildcard spot in the Eastern Conference, a point above arch-rivals New York City FC.
The 2024 MLS Cup finalists have scored the joint second-fewest goals in the league among teams currently in a playoff position (10), though they have netted in nine successive regular-season outings at Red Bull Arena dating back to last year.
Should they fail to earn a point this weekend, they would have a mere 12 points from their opening 10 domestic outings, marking their second-worst total at this stage of an MLS campaign this decade, only doing worse in 2023 (nine points after 10 league games).
A win or draw this weekend though would extend their unbeaten run versus Canadian opposition to 10 matches in this competition, a streak that dates back to 2023.
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It was another match there for the taking for Montreal last weekend, but they failed to take advantage of a golden opportunity in the latter stages against Orlando City.
Marco Donadel's side were up a man for the final 14 minutes plus stoppage time of that contest but could not find the back of the net and are now the only winless side in the Eastern Conference.
Since their 3-2 defeat versus Atlanta United in their season opener, Le CFM have failed to find the back of the net in six of their last eight domestic encounters.
All four of the goals scored by them this season have come away from home, though none in the opening 45 minutes of play.
They have an expected goals rate of 9.8 in MLS this season, the third-lowest in the Eastern Conference and the fifth-worst total in the league.
Montreal have points in two of their previous three visits to Red Bull Arena, coming back twice to claim a 2-2 result in this exact fixture last year, with their previous triumph in Harrison taking place in 2022 (2-1).
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Team News
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An illness kept Mohammed Sofo out of the Red Bulls lineup against DC, while Kyle Duncan, Lewis Morgan and Roald Mitchell were sidelined with knee injuries.
Meanwhile, a thigh strain was too painful for Marcelo Morales to play last week, a hamstring issue meant Daniel Edelman was unavailable and Dylan Nealis was taken off before the end of the opening half with a knock.
Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting scored his team-leading fourth goal of the competition in a losing effort versus the Black and Red, while three of those goals have come in their last four matches.
After making their team debuts versus Charlotte FC earlier this month, Le CFM were missing Giacomo Vrioni last week due to a lower body problem and Jalen Neal sat out because of an issue in his upper body.
On Wednesday, the club loaned Jahkeele Marshall-Rutty to Charlotte for the remainder of the season and, a day later, acquired Olger Escobar from the New England Revolution.
Jonathan Sirois only had to make two stops last week for his second clean sheet of the campaign and his first at Saputo Stadium.
New York Red Bulls possible starting lineup:
Coronel; Eile, Parker, Hack, Valencia; Carballo, Stroud; Carmona, Forsberg, Harper; Choupo-Moting
CF Montreal possible starting lineup:
Sirois; Bugaj, Campbell, Waterman, Petrasso; Piette, Saliba; Clark, Duke, Sealy; Owusu
We say: New York Red Bulls 1-1 CF Montreal
Neither side will enter this match feeling good about their recent performances, and we expect that to impact this match, which could see two teams being a little lacklustre in terms of quality.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Joel Lefevre
