Montreal looking to remain unbeaten at Stade Saputo
Saturday night at Stade Saputo. Is there anything better? I think not. CF Montréal will be back at Stade Saputo this Saturday at 8pm for just its third game of the season in Montreal, when it hosts the New York Red Bulls (TVA Sports 2, 91.9 Sports, TSN690.ca) for the first meeting between these two sides this season.
For both these teams, a win on Saturday night would be crucial. Montreal is currently ranked eighth in the Eastern Conference, right under the playoff line, while New York, on its end, is right behind Montreal in ninth with four points separating the two sides and Montreal having a game in hand.
“We’re creating clear chances, but we have a bit of trouble finishing them,” said head coach Wilfried Nancy. “Now, we’re facing off against a team that loves to press high. We prepared something on our end to try and counter that. We need to create more opportunities to score those goals that we’ve been lacking.”
Wins have been scarce for these two sides as of late. After going unbeaten for six games, Wilfried Nancy’s men have gone winless in their last five, while the New York side has failed to win in its last six games, including a 2-1 loss to the Chicago Fire in their last outing.
Things have been even harder for the Red Bulls in Montreal. New York hasn’t scored a goal at Stade Saputo since August 5, 2015, or 398 minutes of play. Montreal is riding a streak of four consecutive clean sheets against the New York Red Bulls at home heading into Saturday night’s game.
What we want is to regain our defensive stability, but not only on our backline, said Nancy. It’s about having more bite and being a little more aggressive in key moments. Our style of play is there and we’re going to keep playing that way. We are able to make adjustments if we have to, like we did against D.C. United.”
Injury update
A few key pieces continue to be sidelined for the Montreal side, including Romell Quioto and Lassi Lappalainen, both returning from injury. Clément Diop is almost back from a foot injury suffered weeks ago and featured on the bench in Montreal’s last game, while Ballou Tabla still has a while to go before his return to the squad.
Ballou isn’t ready yet,” explained Nancy. “He still has work to do with Jules (Gueguen). Clément is progressing. It’s going well for him, but we can’t rush things. Clément brings a lot to the group through his leadership and he’s getting closer and closer to a return.”
