Nashville SC vs. CF Montreal Prediction, Preview and Odds - 6/26/21
Nashville SC welcomes CF Montreal to Nissan Stadium in Nashville on Saturday night for a battle between Eastern Conference foes. Nashville has had an average start to the season, sitting tenth place in the conference standings with 11 points in eight games and a plus-one goal differential. Montreal on the other hand comes in playing some of their best soccer of the last few seasons, sitting in eighth place with 11 points themselves and the same goal differential as Nashville. There isn’t much to separate these two teams, just like there wasn’t much to separate them when they met in Nashville back on April 24th on matchday two for both sides. That game saw the two teams draw level, 2-2, with Nashville winning the possession game and outshooting Montreal 18-8 overall and 8-4 in shots on goal. Saturday’s game presents a crucial match for points in the Eastern Conference and it’ll be interesting to see which team takes advantage.
Nashville Eyeing Revenge
Nashville is definitely happy to be back home for their second straight game after not having played a game at Nissan Stadium since their May 23rd win over Austin FC, coming off a road tie against Atlanta before the break and a 2-0 loss to New York Red Bulls on the road on Friday. Nashville knew that they were the better team when they met CF Montreal at the start of the season but struggled to put away their chances, an issue that has continued to plague them all season. Not only did Nashville dominate possession in that first meeting, but outshot Montreal as well and was quite unlucky to not come away with the full three points. They were down 0-2 during that game though and were at least able to salvage a draw. Nashville will be without second-leading scorer Johonder Cadiz in Saturday’s match though, as he remains with Venezuela for international duty. As if the Cadiz loss wasn’t enough, they’ll also continue to be without substitute Dom Badji, who remains out with an ankle injury.
Cadiz will be a miss with his two goals and one assist not being in the lineup, including a goal the first time these two teams met, but they’ll still have leading scorer Hany Mukhtar starting up top, who has three goals and one assist on the year. In addition, Randall Leal has been a mainstay in the lineup with his two goals and team-leading two assists, and should definitely be able to help provide a spark for Nashville. Nashville’s advantage can come from set pieces on Saturday, with Walker Zimmerman not scoring yet this season, but continuing to be a threat in the box. Dax McCarty remains one of the best midfielders in the league, and C.J. Sapong can bring his scoring experience as well. It’s surprising to see this team sitting in the bottom half of the Eastern Conference given how strong their roster looks from the outside, but something will need to change to see them start getting points against lesser competition, both at home and on the road.
Defensively, Nashville has one of the most athletic back lines in the league with Walker Zimmerman and Daniel Lovitz, both of whom are received U.S. National Team call-ups of late. McCarty sets the tone in the midfield with his ball winning, but it’s a relief in the attack that they have a strong defense to pick them up if they get beat on the counter-attack. Goalkeeper still remains an area of concern though for Nashville. Joe Willis has been getting the starts this year and while his numbers stack up nicely, there still seems to be hesitance to him. A vocal and leadership-driven game by him at home could go a long way to him getting a little bit more respect for opponents.
Montreal Road Trip Continues
Unfortunately for Montreal, it’s been a season of road trips for this Eastern Conference contender. Forced to play their home games at DRV PNK Stadium, in Fort Lauderdale, due to the COVID crisis, even home games bring added difficulty. It’s impressive to see them still sitting right in the thick of things towards a playoff spot, even with all the off-the-field distractions. As if going on the road for the second time against Nashville this season wasn’t already going to be a tough task, Montreal will also be doing it without three starters. Romell Quioto, who leads the team in assists, will be out with an undisclosed injury, while the experienced Erik Hurtado (hip) and Kamak Miller (undisclosed injury), will both be out as well. Montreal will have a tough time heading back to the place where they let a 2-0 lead disappear back in April, but know that they failed to play a full 90 minutes in that one and will need a full team effort over the weekend to try to get a valuable three points on the road in the rematch.
In total, Montreal will be missing one goal and four assists from their attack when they take the field on Saturday. They still have a dangerous attack up top though even with the injuries, as Mason Toye has found his scoring after his time with Minnesota United, leading the way with three goals. Right behind him is longtime Chicago Fire FC star Djordje Mihailovic, who has two goals and an assist on the year. Both players have received U.S. National team interest over the last few years and a strong summer could position them right back into the conversation. In the first meeting it was Toye and Zachary Brault-Guillard who found the back of the net against Nashville and both will be looking to replicate that success in the rematch.
The backline will take a hit with Miller out, but still has plenty of experience in Rudy Camacho, Aljaz Struna, and then Clement Diop at keeper. Montreal has had three clean shots over the last month of games played and the international break might have only served as more important to working on some ideas out of the back. Expect Montreal to have a much tighter grasp in the defensive third as they did in the first game and for Nashville to have to be even more efficient taking advantage of their chances on goal.
Pick: Nashville (-160)
Nashville has a much deeper roster here and playing at home for the second time already this season against Montreal will be a huge advantage as well. The injuries at hand also hurt Montreal much more than Nashville, as Montreal will be missing arguably their best attacking threat and creative threat in Quioto. Nashville has a backline laced with international experience and athleticism, which will be tough for Montreal to break down. Keep an eye on Zimmerman for Nashville, who will not only make life difficult for Montreal’s attack, but should also get involved going forward at times in counters out of the center back position and get some chances off set pieces. The home team has a chip on their shoulder after failing to get the full three points in this same situation to start the year and won’t let another opportunity pass them by.
Total: Over
The first match of the season saw the teams combine for four goals, the second time in the last three matches that four goals have been scored, with the only other match last year seeing only one game scored. Nashville has plenty of experience in the midfield and attack to score some goals of their own, while Montreal will be missing some key pieces, but still have two forwards who can bag some goals. Nashville’s last game saw five goals scored in total and they’ve had nearly half of their games end with four goals or more. For Montreal, goals have been a little harder to come by, but they won’t be dictating the tempo and style of Saturday’s game.
