Jim Curtin believes maintaining an organised, coordinated press will be key for the Philadelphia Union on Saturday, when they take on CF Montreal at Subaru Park.

The Union sit eighth in the Eastern Conference standings, five places but just three points clear of Montreal, after playing out a goalless draw with Toronto FC in midweek.

Philadelphia have only won one of their last nine MLS matches but have taken five points from their last three (one win, two draws), while keeping three straight clean sheets.

Curtin feels picking their moments to strike is the way to go against Laurent Courtois' team, saying: "We expect a really tough test against Montreal. You can tell they're well-coached, they're well-drilled in the way that they try to pass out of the back.

"They have some really intricate movements within their group. They're brave home and away in the way they try and play. 

"We'll have to do a good job of being organised, and try to turn them over as close to their goal as possible, and create chances."

Montreal ended a run of seven league games without a victory (three draws, four losses) by beating D.C. United 4-2 last time out, with Ariel Lassiter among the scorers.

Lassiter hopes that result can be a turning point in their season, saying: "Winning changes everything, winning changes the outlook of the locker room and the mentality.

"It's the victory, the three points that we need to go into Philadelphia to get points there, and then to finish for the international break on a high."

PLAYERS TO WATCH 

Philadelphia Union – Daniel Gazdag

The Union have failed to score in back-to-back MLS matches for the first time since April 2023. They have not gone three straight MLS matches (including playoffs) without finding the net in over a decade, last doing so in September 2013.

His team's leading scorer with nine goals in 14 league games this term, Gazdag will look to end their barren run.

CF Montreal – Sunusi Ibrahim 

Ibrahim scored a brace off the bench for Montreal on Wednesday, becoming just the third player in club history to score multiple goals off the bench in an MLS match.

He was the first Montreal player to achieve the feat since Ahmed Hamdi in July 2021.

MATCH PREDICTION – PHILADELPHIA UNION WIN

The Union have won only one of their last nine matches (four draws, four losses) following their scoreless draw with Toronto on Wednesday. 

Philadelphia's seven points during this time is their fewest in a nine-match span in a single season since they took seven points from nine games between March and May 2017.

However, they have only lost one of their last eight games against Montreal (four wins, three draws), who were winless in nine across all competitions before their midweek victory. Home advantage makes them favourites.

OPTA WIN PROBABILITY

Philadelphia Union – 58.5%

CF Montreal – 19.9%

Draw – 21.6%

Wilfried Nancy was delighted with the spirit and grit his Columbus Crew team displayed as they sealed a 2-1 CONCACAF Champions Cup win over CF Monterrey.

The Crew are in a great position to progress to the Champions Cup final after their first-leg win in midweek.

Now, Nancy will turn his focus to a league clash with his former club CF Montreal, but he stressed his pride with his team for their performance against Monterrey.

“I'm really proud of the guys,” said Nancy.

“Because we did a really good game in terms of when we had the difficult moments, we were together. And when we had the ball, we tried to play our game and we had good opportunities also, and we were able to unbalance them.

“We try to convince [the squad] that when we play high-level sport, it's a game of mistakes.

The idea is no matter what happened, can we find a way to bounce back? So we work on that during the practice, but at the end of the day, you have to live this situation. And I think that we've worked upon in the past. So now they’ve been better and the chemistry is better. And they were able to sort it out.”

The Crew are the reigning MLS Cup champions, though they have drawn their last three league fixtures.

While Columbus sit fourth in the Eastern Conference, Montreal are three points back in 10th place.

PLAYERS TO WATCH

Columbus Crew – Cucho Hernandez

Hernandez scored his 34th MLS goal (including playoffs) in the Crew’s draw on Saturday. Only the Philadelphia Union’s Daniel Gazdag (36) has more goals than Hernández since he made his MLS debut in July 2022.

CF Montreal – Ariel Lassiter

Lassiter put CF Montreal ahead against Orlando on Saturday with an 88th-minute goal, only to see the Lions equalize in stoppage time. It marked just the second time in club history that Montreal scored a go-ahead goal after the 75th minute but failed to win the match, also doing so against the Fire in 2017.

MATCH PREDICTION: COLUMBUS WIN

Montreal have lost 17 of their 25 away matches in all competitions (W5 D3) dating back to the start of last season, being outscored, 56-21, in those games.

Columbus are unbeaten in 17 straight regular-season home matches (W12 D5) following a pair of draws with D.C. United and the Portland Timbers. The only longer run in club history was a 22-match streak in 2008—09.

Columbus won both of their matches against Montreal last season after winning just two of the previous eight (D2 L4). Montreal (2-1 in August 2022) are one of two visiting teams to record a win at Lower.com Field since June 2022.

OPTA WIN PROBABILITY

Columbus Crew – 56.4%

CF Montreal – 18.6%

Draw – 25%