Two teams outside the Eastern Conference playoff picture in Major League Soccer (MLS) will square off on Wednesday when the New England Revolution host CF Montreal at Gillette Stadium.
Over the weekend, the Revs dropped to the bottom of the Eastern Conference with a 3-0 loss to Orlando City, while Le CFM are three points back of a post-season berth following a 2-1 triumph over Charlotte FC.
Match preview
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Time is not favouring the New England Revolution, who are in danger of missing the playoffs for a second time in three seasons.
Caleb Porter's men are six points below the playoff line but have at least one game in hand on everybody above them in the post-season chase, though they have six teams to catch.
New England have lost five of their previous eight domestic encounters, conceding multiple goals in six of those games.
Only three of their remaining seven MLS affairs this season occur in Greater Boston, where the Revs have only won four matches this year, with their previous one coming against Atlanta United in early July (2-1).
With 30 goals scored in the league this year, this team have netted the second-fewest times in MLS, behind only Nashville SC (28).
The Revs have won four of their previous five home meetings with Montreal in this competition, including the last time out at Gillette Stadium in 2023 (4-0).
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Just when their playoff hopes appeared to be fading, Le CFM found a way to get back into the post-season race with a timely victory on Saturday.
That ended a three-match losing run for them in this competition and a four-game MLS winless streak, putting them within reach of a post-season berth.
Laurent Courtois's men are on an 11-match winless run in league play away from home, with Montreal claiming a mere three points as the visitors over that stretch.
One of their problems throughout the season has been an inability to gain points consistently, winning consecutive league contests just once all season, with those back-to-back victories occurring in March.
Defensively, they have been weak throughout the campaign, conceding 59 goals after 28 matchdays, the second-most in the league behind the San Jose Earthquakes (65).
Le CFM have not lost consecutive games against the Revs in the same campaign since 2021 but have not beaten them away from home since 2022 (1-0).
Team News
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In their defeat versus Orlando City, New England were without Will Sands because of a sore foot, Brandon Bye is dealing with an ankle issue, Tomas Chancalay has a knee injury and Matt Polster was sidelined with a knock.
Alhassan Yusuf made his Revs debut on Saturday, with the 18-year-old playing 18 minutes, and Nacho Gil featured for a second successive encounter after missing a considerable amount of time due to a knee injury sustained in April.
Giacomo Vrioni led them with five shot attempts against the Lions, while Esmir Bajraktarevic had three chances created off the bench to lead the team in that department.
After suffering an injury during the international window with Canada, Joel Waterman sat out of the previous Montreal encounter, and Joaquin Sosa was sidelined on Saturday because of muscle discomfort.
Dominik Yankov was back in the fold for Le CFM last weekend after being unfit for a while, coming on for Nathan-Dylan Saliba with fewer than 10 minutes remaining in the second half.
Caden Clark and Bryce Duke scored three minutes apart in the opening half against Charlotte, enabling them to bump a lengthy slump.
New England Revolution possible starting lineup:
Ivacic; Lima, Parker, Romney, Arreaga; McNamara, Harkes; Boateng, C. Gil, Borrero; Vrioni
CF Montreal possible starting lineup:
Sirois; Campbell, Corbo, Alvarez; Marshall-Rutty, Wanyama, Piette, Edwards; Opoku, Clark; Coccaro
We say: New England Revolution 2-0 CF Montreal
Neither side have been particularly consistent, but the Revs have started to buy into the methods of Caleb Porter and against a disorganised Montreal defence, we expect a quality chance creator like Carles Gil will be able to unlock that backline.
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