If CF Montreal are going to break their four-game winless streak on Wednesday night, they will need to pull off a big upset.
Montreal visits Supporters’ Shield leaders Nashville SC, who are looking to extend their lead at the top of the table with a win. Nashville sits on 36 points from 15 games, a five-point lead over their closest Eastern Conference rival, Inter Miami — who host Robert Lewandowski and the Chicago Fire earlier on Wednesday night.
The Vancouver Whitecaps, who visit FC Cincinnati on Wednesday as well, are four points back of Nashville in the Shield race, and the Western Conference leaders have a game in hand as well after last week’s trip to Chicago was postponed due to wildfire smoke drifting south from Canada.
Montreal are further back, sitting on 15 points from 15 matches near the bottom of the East, and started their return from the MLS World Cup break with an uninspiring 0-0 draw against Toronto FC last week. They need to find their shooting boots and work their way up the standings before other teams leave them chasing shadows.
Defensively they are in for a challenge against a Nashville side that features three of the top attackers in MLS — Sam Surridge, Hany Mukhtar and Cristian Espinoza — and recently added Tunisian former Bundesliga winger Elias Saad as well.
More to come.