Preview: CF Montreal vs. FC Cincinnati - prediction, team news, lineups

Still on the hunt for their first win of the Major League Soccer campaign, FC Cincinnati make the trip to take on CF Montreal on Saturday.

A run of three defeats and a draw from their opening four games has seen Jaap Stam's side drop to the foot of the Eastern Conference, while their hosts sit in fifth spot with eight points from their first six league outings.

Match preview

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CF Montreal were unlucky to fall to their second defeat of the season last Sunday, as they travelled to take on Atlanta United.

The game looked set to end goalless until Marcelino Moreno netted the winner for the hosts in the 94th minute to send Wilfred Nancy's side home empty-handed.

Before that, the Canadian outfit picked up a 2-0 away victory over Inter Miami, as Bjorn Johnsen netted a brace inside the first 25 minutes to seal all three points.

After narrowly missing out on making the playoffs last year, with Carles Gil firing New England Revolution to a 2-1 win in the 95th minute in the play-in round, Montreal will be hopeful of going one better this year and sealing their automatic qualification with a strong top-seven finish.

With just two points separating the sides between second and seventh spot, Nancy's side have a great chance to quickly cement themselves at the top end of the table with another win on Saturday, as the division begins to take shape.

They take on a Cincinnati side who are yet to win an MLS game this campaign, sitting at the bottom of the Eastern Conference as a result.

Jaap Stam's men looked set to pick up a victory on the first day of the season as they led 2-0 away at Nashville SC thanks to goals from Luciano Acosta and Brenner, but a Jhonder Cadiz goal and a Randall Leal equaliser on the hour mark forced them to share the points.

Since that disappointing opening draw, the Ohio side have lost three consecutive MLS matches, firstly suffering a 5-0 defeat at home to New York City FC, as Jesus Medina netted a brace alongside a Nick Hagglund own goal and goals from Gudmundur Thorarinsson and Valentin Castellanos.

They were again comfortably beaten in the following match away at Orlando City, as Tesho Akindele scored inside the first minute before Nani and Junior Urso found the net to seal a dominant 3-0 win for the hosts.

However, Stam's men may feel slightly unfortunate to have come away from Sunday's game at home to Inter Miami empty-handed, given their late comeback.

The visitors led 2-0 through Brek Shea and Gonzalo Higuain, but Alvaro Barreal found the net on the hour mark and Nick Hagglund levelled the game in the 82nd minute, before Higuain netted his second of the game just three minutes later to restore Inter Miami's lead and take all three points.

With just one point from their first four matches, The Orange and Blue will know that they need to quickly improve their results if they are to climb up the division and avoid a third consecutive finish at the foot of their conference.

Team News

After scoring in both of their opening two matches, Montreal forward Mason Toye has been out with a hamstring injury, and he should continue his spell on the sidelines on Saturday.

He will be joined by Ballou Tabla, who is yet to feature this season due to injury.

They will also remain without defenders Luis Binks and Zachary Braut-Guillard, with Aljaz Struna, Rudy Camacho and Kamal Miller expected to form the back three again on Saturday.

Experienced midfielder Victor Wanyama will offer plenty of experience and quality in front of the back line, allowing Djordje Mihailovic to support the attack.

Nick Hagglund and Luciano Acosta have both recently become doubtful for Saturday's game for Cincinnati through injury concerns, but the important pair should start after netting their goals against Inter Miami last time out.

Defender Tom Pettersson will remain out with an Achilles issue, while Franko Kovacevic and Maikel Van der Werff will also continue spells on the sidelines.

Brenner should lead their line again, as he looks to break a three-game goalless run, having failed to score since his penalty on the opening day of the season.

CF Montreal possible starting lineup:
Diop; Struna, Camacho, Miller; Choiniere, Wanyama, Piette, Lappalainen; Mihailovic; Johnsen, Quioto

FC Cincinnati possible starting lineup:
Vermeer; Gyau, Cameron, Hagglund, Matarrita; Locadia, Cruz, Kubo, Barreal; Acosta; Brenner

We say: CF Montreal 2-0 FC Cincinnati

Cincinnati have continued to look poor this campaign after two disappointing seasons back-to-back, and we cannot see anything other than fourth straight defeat for Stam's men on Saturday.

While they have had an inconsistent start of their own, Montreal should have more than enough to get past the basement side on home turf.