Ashley Westwood believes Charlotte FC are clicking at the right time, with an MLS Cup Playoff spot already secured ahead of their weekend clash with CF Montreal.

Charlotte made certain of a playoff place by edging a seven-goal thriller against the Chicago Fire in midweek, Karol Swiderski netting twice in a 4-3 win for Dean Smith's men.

They face Montreal, who are one place and five points below them in the standings, at Bank of America Stadium on Saturday, as they gear up for a second playoff run in as many years.

Captain and former Aston Villa midfielder Westwood believes Charlotte's run of seven points – and nine goals – in three matches has come at the ideal moment. 

"It all comes with us starting to know people's movements," Westwood told WFNZ Sports Radio. 

"It's not easy to come straight into a team and people expect things to click straight away, but everyone has different movements. Finally, it looks like it's clicking at the right time."

Montreal are looking to make certain of a wild-card place, having clinched a huge 2-1 victory over Atlanta United last time out – courtesy of former Five Stripes hero Josef Martinez.

"We fought for this win and it is a very important one for us," Martinez said. "Of course, coming to this stadium with these fans, to play against this club was tough. 

"It's always hard and I have a lot of love for them but I am professional and I need to fight for my colours.

"We are happy with this victory, but we need to focus on Charlotte now. Now we fight for one reason and it is to make the playoffs. The team is on the same page and this is why we are scoring goals."

PLAYERS TO WATCH 

Charlotte FC – Karol Swiderski 

Swiderski scored twice on Wednesday with his first strike coming in the eighth minute, the fifth time he has scored in the first 10 minutes of an MLS match for Charlotte. 

Only one other player in team history has scored multiple goals within the first 10 minutes of matches in MLS play (Yordy Reyna, with two).

CF Montreal – Josef Martinez

Martinez scored two goals against his former club Atlanta on Wednesday, his 24th career multi-goal MLS match. 

Only Landon Donovan (32) and Chris Wondolowski (25) have more such games in league history.

MATCH PREDICTION – CHARLOTTE FC WIN

Montreal are unbeaten in five all-time meetings with Charlotte in MLS (four wins, one draw), including a 2-1 home win on September 14. Charlotte's only point against Montreal came in the teams' last meeting at Bank of America Stadium, a scoreless draw in June 2023.

However, that could change here. The Crown have scored four goals in each of their last two home matches, in wins over the New England Revolution and Chicago Fire. They previously had just two MLS matches (home or away) with four or more goals in their history.

Montreal's midweek triumph over Atlanta was their first road win in 13 attempts in MLS (four draws, eight defeats), and a repeat looks unlikely here.

OPTA WIN PROBABILITY

Charlotte FC – 52.7%

CF Montreal – 23.1%

Draw – 24.2%

Chicago Fire head coach Frank Klopas was left to rue missed opportunities in their 1-0 defeat to Nashville SC in their last MLS encounter.

The Fire travel to face an in-form CF Montreal side at the Stade Saputo this weekend, a ground they have found relative success at over the past couple of seasons.

Klopas’ side currently occupy 14th place in the Eastern Conference standings but are four points from the playoffs.

Sam Surridge’s only goal compounded Chicago to a 15th loss of the season, and Klopas explained how his side’s lacklustre approach cost them in midweek.

“They scored the goal, but we still had a whole second half where we dominated the ball, but the speed of play had to be better,” said Klopas.

“When you have 10 guys behind the ball you have to move the ball quicker. They needed to do it in those moments, and we needed to get crosses in but we didn’t.

“It’s always difficult on the road but look who the first goal came. I think we could have done better all round as a team. We had our moments but didn’t take advantage of them.”

Montreal, meanwhile, came from two goals down to salvage a point in their 2-2 draw with the New England Revolution last time out, leaving them a place ahead of this weekend’s opponents.

One of Montreal’s scorers was new arrival Tom Pearce after making the move to the MLS in July from League One side Wigan Athletic.

The 26-year-old’s first career goal in the division saw him become the first player from the United Kingdom to score a regular season goal in MLS for Montreal.

And Pearce believes that despite Montreal being two points behind the playoffs, they can make it to the right side of the line in the final five games of the campaign.

“Playoffs are the goal. Maybe it wasn't in the best form, but in the end, we are picking up a point," Pearce said.

"We came into this game confident, ready to play our own game.

"Everyone tries their best, whenever the players are called on, we are always ready, and we are always giving it our best.”

PLAYERS TO WATCH

CF Montreal – Josef Martinez

After returning from a knee injury with three goals in his last 10 appearances, Martinez will be keen to strike against a side he has enjoyed recent fixtures against.

The Venezuelan has eight goal contributions (six goals and two assists) against the Fire, a total he has only bettered against four other sides in the MLS.

Chicago Fire – Tobias Salquist

Salquist completed 104 passes in the Fire’s defeat at Nashville SC, the second-most by a Fire player in an MLS match since Opta began detailed data collection of the league in 2010 (Bastian Schweinsteiger – 117 vs. Orlando City in June 2017).

MATCH PREDICTION: CF MONTREAL WIN

Montreal has lost only two of their last 11 home matches in all competitions (W5 D4), including winning three of the last five. Montreal have not won consecutive home matches in a single season since an eight-match home winning streak from April to June last year.

Chicago was held scoreless in their loss to Nashville, the Fire’s ninth time being shutout in an MLS game this season. The only team to be held without a goal in more MLS matches in 2024 is the Coyotes (10).

However, the Fire have lost only two of their 14 all-time visits to Montreal (W9 D3), including winning four of the last five trips. Chicago have not lost in Montreal since a 1-0 defeat in 2017.

OPTA WIN PROBABILITY

CF Montreal – 45.9%

Draw – 26.7%

Chicago Fire – 27.4%

CF Montreal head coach Laurent Courtois has urged his players to prioritise their mental approach when they travel to New England Revolution on Wednesday.

Montreal snapped a four-match winless streak in MLS at the weekend with a 2-1 win over Charlotte FC, but they have registered back-to-back victories in the league since March.

They sit 12th in the Eastern Conference but still have an outside chance of making the playoffs if they can string together a run of positive results.

Courtois did not get over-excited by the win over Charlotte and is already looking at how to improve to get another three points on the board.

"I am happy, we are talking about things that are positive, but for me, there are always both [no matter the result]," Courtois said.

"It comes down to the mental approach. The message got through [against Charlotte], but if we look at the details, we could have conceded again, and then we would be talking about something else entirely."

Meanwhile, New England are bottom of the table, three points worse off than their opponents.

They suffered a 3-0 loss to Orlando City last time out and are now winless in three matches, but assistant coach Pablo Moreira is confident they can bounce back.

"All three goals were given up on set pieces, which is a tough one to swallow, and then through the run of play. So, [we'll] just build off of the positives and look forward to the game Wednesday," Moreira said, as quoted in the Blazing Musket.

"It's more that mentality after [conceding] and trying to improve that."

PLAYERS TO WATCH

New England Revolution – Aljaz Ivacic

Saturday's 3-0 defeat at Orlando was the 12th time this season New England have lost a regular season match by multiple goals, the most such losses this MLS season.

The 12 multi-goal losses are New England's most in a single season in club history, and Aljaz Ivacic will be desperate to keep a clean sheet.

CF Montreal – Josef Martinez

Josef Martinez has scored eight career regular-season goals against New England, tied for his most against any MLS opponent (D.C. United, Orlando).

No player has scored more goals against the Revs over the last 10 MLS seasons.

MATCH PREDICTION: NEW ENGLAND REVOLUTION WIN

New England and Montreal have each won three of the last six meetings in the fixture. The Revs scored 13 goals in their three wins while failing to score in the three defeats.

The Revolution are winless in three straight regular-season home matches (D2 L1). It has been four years since they went four straight home league games without a win (D4 L1 from March-September 2020).

However, Montreal are winless in 14 straight away matches in all competitions (D4 L10), including losing their last three away from home. Montreal's only longer road winless run in all competitions since joining MLS in 2011 was a 34-match run in 2013-14.

OPTA WIN PROBABILITY

New England Revolution – 52.5%

Draw – 24.3%

CF Montreal – 23.2%

Caleb Porter has likened the final games of the season to cup finals, as New England Revolution prepare to return to action against CF Montreal.

The Revs have had a three-week break ahead after suffering a heartbreaking penalty shoot-out defeat to New York City FC in the Leagues Cup round of 32.

After a slow start to the season, New England sit bottom of the Eastern Conference, though are only five points behind Atlanta United in ninth.

And Porter believes his refreshed team have what it takes to challenge for the playoffs if they can string together a winning run.

"Every game is a cup final, these last 11," Porter said. "We're going to go for it.

"Obviously, our goal is to take it one at a time and win every game. We don't need to win every game to probably get in, but that's going to be our mindset.

"If we can win our home games, and then win half the road games, then I think we'll be in good shape."

Meanwhile, Montreal were also knocked out of the Leagues Cup in the round of 32, suffering a 2-0 defeat to the Philadelphia Union.

They resume their MLS campaign in a strong position, sitting fifth in the table, but have had problems in the build-up to this game after a public falling-out between head coach Laurent Courtois and striker Josef Martinez.

Courtois said he felt "betrayed" by the Venezuelan after he refused to take part in training, but Montreal president Gabriel Gervais says the problem has now been dealt with.

"This case is closed," he said. "For me, it's non-negotiable. Someone who is not disciplined cannot be here."

PLAYERS TO WATCH

CF Montreal – Josef Martinez

Josef Martínez has scored eight regular-season goals against New England, tied for his most against any MLS opponent (also eight vs. D.C. United and Orlando City).

New England Revolution – Carles Gil

Carles Gil has been involved in a goal in each of his last four regular-season MLS matches (one goal, four assists).

The Spaniard's longest streak of consecutive regular-season matches with a goal contribution is five straight, done three times, most recently in 2022.

MATCH PREDICTION: CF MONTREAL WIN

Montreal have won three of their last four home matches against New England, keeping clean sheets in all three wins. Montreal had won three of their previous 16 matches against the Revs (drawing one, losing 12), managing just two clean sheets in those games.

In fact, Montreal have lost only one of their last nine home matches in all competitions (four wins, four draws) with the lone defeat coming against Toronto FC on July 20. No American team has won at Stade Saputo since Columbus on May 15.

Meanwhile, New England are unbeaten in four straight matches in all competitions (won one, drawn three, including a penalty shoot-out loss in the Leagues Cup Round of 32), equaling their longest run of the season. The Revs' last longer unbeaten run was a six-match stretch that spanned last year's Leagues Cup.

OPTA WIN PROBABILITY

CF Montreal – 43.4%

Draw – 26.7%

New England Revolution – 29.9%

CF Montreal have used their recent MLS bye week to get some injured players back to fitness, says coach Laurent Courtois.

Montreal were not in action last weekend, but kick-start the second half of their 2024 campaign against Real Salt Lake on Saturday.

And Courtois revealed that the break enabled Montreal to get three strikers, who had all been injured, healthy.

Josef Martinez, Matias Coccaro and Kwadwo Opoku are now back in the fold after lay-offs, as are Mason Toye and Lassi Lappalainen.

“A big part of it was to get people healthy and to fix a little bit the morale of the troops,” Courtois said of the break. “In that sense, these past two weeks have been really beneficial.

"Having all the people together brings a whole different dynamic. Everybody wants to win his spot.”

Not that Montreal went into the break in poor form. They are unbeaten in three games, having drawn with the Philadelphia Union and Nashville SC either side of beating D.C. United 4-2.

They sit 12th in the Eastern Conference, though going up against RSL presents a stern test.

Salt Lake are top of the Western Conference with 33 points from their 17 matches. They are unbeaten in 13 games in MLS.

PLAYERS TO WATCH

CF Montreal – Sunusi Ibrahim

Sunusi Ibrahim’s goal after 49 seconds on June 1 was the sixth first-minute goal Montreal have scored in MLS play. No team have scored more goals in the opening minute of matches since Montreal joined the league in 2012.

Real Salt Lake – Cristian Arango

Arango’s 16 goals and 10 assists for the season leave him one goal away from equalling Alvaro Saborio’s single-season club goals record of 17 set in 2012 and one goal contribution away from equalling Jeff Cunningham’s single-season record of 27 set in 2006.

MATCH PREDICTION: RSL WIN

RSL are on the second-longest single-season unbeaten run in club history (after going 14 straight games without defeat in 2010). The last team to go more than 13 straight games without defeat in a single regular season was the Portland Timbers (15) in 2018.

Montreal, though, are unbeaten in three straight matches (W1 D2) following a four-match regular-season losing streak. Montreal have not gone unbeaten in four straight league matches in over a year, since winning four straight games in April-May last season.

RSL recorded a 2-1 win at Montreal in the last meeting between the sides in May 2022. It was the first away win in the nine all-time meetings between the sides.

OPTA WIN PROBABILITY

Montreal – 30.1%

RSL – 45.1%

Draw – 24.9%

Laurent Courtois was pleased to see CF Montreal "stop the bleeding" with Saturday's goalless draw against Nashville SC, but he knows more is needed when they host D.C. United on Wednesday. 

Montreal are winless in their last nine matches across all competitions (four draws, five losses) and sit 13th of 15 teams in the Eastern Conference.

They did at least snap a four-game losing streak with that stalemate, and Courtois wants them to use that result as a platform.

"I heard a couple of guys talking about 'stopping the bleeding' and I hate it, but it's the reality of the moment," said Courtois.

"We're happy in the sense that we were able to get back to our standards of commitment and competitiveness, but we know that we need more at home, so we have to get back to work."

D.C. were also held to a draw last time out as their own winless run stretched to three matches, being pegged back in a 1-1 home tie with the Chicago Fire.

Coach Troy Lesesne was less than pleased with his team's performance in that match, saying: "In the end, we were fortunate to get a point out of that, and that's not good enough.

"Maybe there wasn't enough service. I think it was to do with how we went out. 

"In the first half you could see our identity by the way we went out, but you could not see that in the second half." 

PLAYERS TO WATCH 

CF Montreal – Josef Martinez

Martinez has scored eight regular-season goals against D.C. United, equalling the most he has scored against any opponent in his MLS career (also eight versus the New England Revolution and Orlando City).

D.C. United – Christian Benteke

D.C. have won 347 aerial duels this season, over 100 more than any other MLS team and almost three times as many as Montreal. 

Montreal have won 122 aerial duels this year, the second-fewest in MLS and 42 fewer than Benteke alone (164).

MATCH PREDICTION – CF MONTREAL WIN

D.C. have won two straight matches against Montreal in all competitions, but the only three-game winning streak achieved by either team against the other came in 2016-17 (three victories for Montreal).

Montreal's nine-match winless run is their joint-longest across all competitions since they joined MLS in 2012 (also nine in 2013-14).

However, D.C. have failed to win any of their last three matches (one draw, two losses) and have only won one of their last 13 on the road (seven draws, five defeats).

OPTA WIN PROBABILITY

CF Montreal – 46.9%

D.C. United – 25.7%

Draw – 27.4% 

Fredy Montero and Raul Ruidiaz scored twice as Seattle Sounders crushed Portland Timbers 6-2 in another memorable MLS clash.

The Cascadia derby did not disappoint on Sunday, with the Sounders snapping a three-game winless streak behind Montero and Ruidiaz.

Entering the fixture, the slumping Sounders had won three of their last four away matches against the Timbers (L1) after winning just three of the first 14 MLS encounters in Portland (D3 L8, including play-offs).

Montero scored twice inside the opening 29 minutes to put the Sounders in control before Sebastian Blanco and George Fochive restored parity for the Timbers by the 52nd-minute mark at Providence Park.

Beginning with the 2018 playoffs, Ruidiaz had scored (eight) or assisted (two) on 10 of the Sounders' last 14 goals against the Timbers, including seven of eight goals in Portland (five goals and two assists) during that time.

Ruidiaz turned Sunday's match on its head with a stunning brace, including his memorable 55th-minute free-kick.

Jimmy Medranda's thunderous 77th-minute volley and Nicolas Benezet's stoppage-time effort completed the rout.

Seattle are second in the Western Conference, only a point behind Sporting Kansas City after 19 games, while Portland are eighth.

Elsewhere, Josef Martinez celebrated a long-awaited home goal as Atlanta United edged Los Angeles FC 1-0.

Martinez had not scored at Mercedes-Benz Stadium since October 2019, but the Venezuelan star ended his drought in the 47th minute.

Nashville are third in the Eastern Conference following their 5-2 drubbing of DC United – a victory inspired by CJ Sapong's brace, while snapping DC United's five-game unbeaten streak.

Chicago Fire topped defending champions Columbus Crew 1-0 via Luka Stojanovic's winner with 15 minutes remaining.

Josef Martinez scored a late penalty to rescue a point for Gabriel Heinze's Atlanta United, though Seattle Sounders remain unbeaten in MLS.

Martinez equalised via an 86th-minute spot-kick to earn Atlanta a 1-1 draw with the Sounders at Lumen Field in Seattle on Sunday.

The Sounders had taken a sixth-minute lead from Raul Ruidiaz, who headed home Joao Paulo's corner to make it six goals in seven games.

Last season's MLS Cup runners-up Seattle remain undefeated and top of the Western Conference through seven matches, but had their four-game winning run ended as Atlanta – led by former Manchester United and Real Madrid defender Heinze – sit fifth in the east.

Last season's Supporters' Shield winners Philadelphia Union moved up into third in the east with a 1-0 victory away to DC United.

Kacper Przybylko netted the winner on the stroke of half-time for the Union, who are now unbeaten in their past four games.

Jamiro Monteiro laid off a perfectly weighted pass into the box for the Polish attacker to control and convert.

Union goalkeeper Andre Blake made a spectacular second-half save to deny United's 18-year-old midfielder Kevin Paredes with a curled effort from the edge of the box.

Undefeated Nashville edged past newcomers Austin 1-0 courtesy of a 35th-minute volley from Randall Leal.

Jared Stroud thought he had scored a second-half equaliser but it was disallowed by VAR for offside.

Nashville, who drew four of their opening five games, have won two of their past three matches to move up to fourth in the Eastern Conference, while Austin have lost three in a row on the road.