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Club de Foot Montreal vs Columbus Crew
When: Saturday, May 1 – 15:00 EDT
Where: DRV PNK Stadium in Fort Lauderdale, Florida
Weather: Mostly sunny, 30°C
Club de Foot Montreal (formerly known as Montreal Impact) are at the top of the Eastern Conference after two rounds, with four points. Columbus Crew have just one point thus far but have played only one game.
Oddsmakers think Columbus Crew are the favorites here, which seems fair considering that this is the team that won the 2020 MLS Cup. However, the fact that they played in the cup means that their season lasted much longer than Montreal’s. Furthermore, Columbus Crew are still competing in the CONCACAF Champions League.
In fact, their most recent game was a 2-2 draw with Mexican team Monterrey. The game took place on Wednesday evening, so Columbus players might still be a bit fatigued.
Club de Foot Montreal Rarely Draw at Home
Only about one in 10 of their home games over the past four years finished in a draw. Still, there is a catch – this season, Montreal are playing their home matches in Florida.
The home venue of Inter Miami CF, DRV PNK Stadium, will serve as the home ground of Montreal while the USA battles with COVID-19. They’ve already played one game there, and it was a success. Two weeks ago, they welcomed their Canadian rivals, Toronto FC, and despite being pre-game underdogs, they won 4-2.
That game saw the former Tottenham defensive midfielder Victor Wanyama score a goal, and, more importantly, he dominated in the center of the pitch. The 29-year-old has been one of their key men ever since he arrived from England in 2020.
Wanyama is likely to be the man in the spotlight against Columbus Crew. The reason for this is that the team from Ohio often relies on counterattacks. That’s something Wanyama definitely has the ability to prevent.
On top of that, Montreal’s new manager Wilfried Nancy (who replaced Thierry Henry) seems to know how to prepare his team for literally any challenge. You can be sure that he’s going to pay attention to stopping Columbus’ pacey forwards.
Columbus Crew Started Off the 2021 MLS Season with a Goalless Draw
The first game they played this season was against Philadelphia Union. Although Columbus Crew were strong favorites to win that game, they ended up failing to score.
They had 12 goal attempts in that game, half of which were aimed at goal, but the opposition goalie couldn’t be beaten. That said, Columbus Crew’s chances weren’t that great.
Last season, this team has thought us that they play their best football when they let the opponents keep the ball. For instance, in the MLS Cup Final against Seattle Sounders, Columbus players had the ball in their possession only for 35% of the game. However, they managed to score three goals, without allowing a single one.
Putting two and two together, the Crew will likely let Montreal keep the ball tonight, but the question is whether they can make much use of their counter-attacks.
Club de Foot Montreal vs Columbus Crew Betting Picks
Columbus Crew will be very eager to start scoring, but they probably aren’t going to have too many chances to do so tonight, largely due to Montreal’s powerful midfield.
Furthermore, knowing that Montreal have been in a goalscoring mood lately, we wouldn’t be surprised to see them grabbing all three points. Still, even if they don’t win the game, Montreal should at least get a draw.
Prediction: Montreal +0.25 Asian Handicap
