Match Preview - CF Montreal
Game Info
Kickoff: 6:39pm CT
Watch: Apple TV
Location: Stade Saputo - Montreal, QC, Canada
All-Time H2H Record
Austin FC has a 2W-0D-0L record against CF Montreal, both 1-0 victories.
The first time these two clubs met was back in the middle of the 2022 season. Austin FC was without the services of Dani Pereira for the majority of that game (as they will be for the whole of Saturday’s match) after he picked up a second yellow card in the 44th minute. After escaping a number of clear Montreal chances in front of net, shorthanded ATX struck for the only goal of the match after the speedy Jon Gallagher hit Maxi Urruti on a long bouncing cross.
CF Montreal came to Q2 Stadium in the second week of the 2023 season, a game that saw Austin FC shoot themselves in the foot in front of net for 95% of the match. Two wide open Emiliano Rigoni chances in the first 20 minutes set the tone of frustration on the night (or maybe the season?) before Urruti subbed on in the 76th minute, scoring the winner in the 88th minute of a cheeky Jon Gallagher header in The North End.
Now, without Urruti to play the hero in 2025, Austin FC will look to remain undefeated against CF Montreal.
CF Montreal Recent Form
CF Montreal was founded in 1992 and was originally named the Montreal Impact. The club initially competed in the American Professional Soccer League (APSL) from 1993-1994 before the APSL merged with the United States Inter-regional Soccer League (USISL) in 1995. The merger was influenced by the beginning of MLS and filled the need for a second division league in the States.
At first the new league was called the “A-League,” before adopting the name United Soccer Leagues (USL) in 1999. As USL and the North American Soccer League (NASL) feuded in the late 2000’s, the United States Soccer Federation (USSF) created the “D2 Pro League,” which is where the Impact competed during the 2010 season alongside the Austin Aztex.
The Impact joined MLS in 2012 as the league’s 19th club and qualified for CONCACAF Champion’s League in both 2014 and 2015, becoming the second ever MLS side to advance to a CCL Final, eventually dropping the title game to Club America.
Since then, it’s been all downhill for Montreal. The club has finished in the top half of the Supporter’s Shield standings just once since 2016 and the team has spent exactly zero dollars (yes, $0 USD) since 2014 on designated player transfer fees. For comparison’s sake, Austin FC has spent around $30 million in the last calendar year to bring in their three DPs. In 2021 the team rebranded from the Montreal Impact to CF Montreal and it initially looked like the move had somehow changed the club’s fortunes. But the quick upswing in 2022 ended up being a Wilfried Nancy led bottle rocket that quickly fizzled out after the title winning head coach departed for Columbus the following season.
Expectations for CF Montreal weren’t high coming into 2025. Though they traded for DP striker Giacomo Vrioni from New England, added former Toronto FC forward Prince Owusu and a pair of U22 Initiative options in Jalen Neal and Hennadii Synchuk, the overall talent level on the roster still screamed “wooden spoon contenders” to most pundits.
While MLS is tough to predict, the 2025 version of CF Montreal has been just about bang on with most people’s expectations. They are currently tied with DC United for the worst record in the Eastern Conference with 20 points from their 27 league games. On a per game basis the only team that scores less frequently than Montreal is DC. Like we discussed on Episode 249, CF Montreal have just one home win in 13 matches at Stade Saputo.
Owusu has been the lone bright spot in terms of counting stats, recording 11 goals and four assists across his 27 appearances. Vrioni on the other hand has been very productive in his time this year, with three goals in just 394 minutes, but he’s appeared in just eight games in 2025 due to multiple injuries. Vrioni will miss this weekend’s match with a lower body issue, as will former LAFC forward Mahala Opoku, former Chicago Fire attacker Fabian Herbers and CF Montreal’s team captain Samuel Piette.
The club also subtracted some mainstays from their starting lineup in the transfer window that closed on Thursday night. Midfielder Caden Clark was sold to DC United and defender Joel Waterman was traded to Chicago Fire. Earlier in the window the team sold promising youngsters Nathan Saliba and George Campbell to European clubs. That would be an exciting development for the future of the club if the fans had any hope that the funds would be reinvested into more player personnel!
To be fair to their front office, they did bring in 24-year-old Spanish attacker Iván Jaime this week, but he’ll be arriving on loan from FC Porto with a purchase option next summer so they are not exactly splashing the cash around just yet.
Before moving on, let’s take a spin through Montreal’s team stats for the 2025 season for some further context on how bad this team is. Out of the 30 MLS teams, CF Montreal is 29th in goals scored per game and 26th in goals allowed per game. They’re 28th in expected goals (xG), 25th in shots on target per match and 29th in big chances created. They’re also just 27th in touches in the opponent’s penalty area and 5th in yellow cards.
Austin FC Recent Form
With all of that information in tow, maybe you’ll join myself and E in pulling the “must win” lever for this match, like we did on Wednesday’s preview episode. Coming off of the previous two weeks of Copa Tejas infused let downs, the Verde and Black must bounce back with a victory north of the border on Saturday evening. Anything but three points will fan the small flames that are crackling around the edges of the Austin fan base this week.
Can you really blame the Verde faithful (especially the sickos) for being on edge? In the club’s short history, the final third of the regular season has spelled disaster more often than not. With four matches remaining in the “make or break” stretch of nine straight against non-playoff teams, the schedule gets much tougher in mid-September. The pressure is rising on all sides.
Making things worse this Saturday is the suspension of midfielder Dani Pereira, who will be forced to miss this match due to yellow card accumulation. When Pereira was out for a little over a month earlier in the season, Austin FC went winless across eight MLS matches. His absence in the midfield will be an issue for Austin’s ball progression unless presumed replacement Besard Sabovic can fix his form after being under fan scrutiny the last few matches. Of course, head coach Nico Estévez could surprise us by shifting Owen Wolff from his newfound left wing position back to his more natural midfield post, but Thursday’s press conference at St. David’s Performance Center did give off vibes of a Sabovic start.
Either way, the suspension will force Estévez to change his starting unit, something he hasn’t done over the last four matches dating back to the road victory over LA Galaxy before the All-Star break. It’s by far the longest stretch of starting lineup consistency that the gaffer has stuck with during his short ATX tenure.
As long as the Verde and Black are able to continue generating big chances offensively they should be able to get the job done in Montreal on Saturday night. Since the Brandon Vazquez knee injury ushered veteran Diego Rubio into the XI the team has been more potent offensively (a problem to think about at a later date, let’s stick to the positives for now). Over the last five matches, Austin FC has generated 16 big chances per Opta. That’s 26.2% of the team’s big chances created over 20% of the games played.
Finishing those chances remains a crap shoot for ATX, but there’s little doubt that things have improved since the first half of the season. In fact, despite the vibes feeling much worse than this stat would indicate, Austin FC has only lost once in all competitions since the calendar turned to June. That’s just one loss over the last nine games. If the team can keep that type of form over the final two months of the season, they’re a shoo-in for a top seven spot and the club’s first playoff berth since 2022.
The lever has been pulled. This is a must win game for Austin FC.
Injury Report
ATX:
Dani Pereira (Out - Yellow Card Suspension)
Brandon Vazquez (Out - Knee)
MTL:
Giacomo Vrioni (Out - Lower Body)
Samuel Piette (Out - Upper Body)
Fabian Herbers (Out - Lower Body)
Kwadwo Opoku (Out - Lower Body)
Jalen Neal (Out - Appendicitis)
CF Montreal Players to Watch
Prince Owusu - The 28-year-old German forward is one of the few bright spots for CF Montreal in 2025. With his 6’3” frame, Owusu towers over most opponents, helping him power his way to 11 goals this season. He’s not just a goal scorer however, Owusu is also a hub of Montreal’s offensive progression, as dismal as it may be. He’s third highest on the team in progressive carries and second in progressive passes received, while dishing out nearly two progressive passes per game from the striker position. Owusu will be the biggest test for Austin’s back line on Saturday.
Brandan Craig - Any Austin FC fans who were screaming back in 2023 that the club should have sacrificed GAM to get Craig on the field during his loan spell will get to see what they were missing on Saturday. Craig is now a member of CF Montreal on their supplemental roster meaning that the Philadelphia Union, who controlled Craig’s homegrown rights, were fine cutting him loose. Funny how these things work, huh? Sarcasm aside, this has been a big season for Craig. He should cross the 1,000 minute threshold this Saturday and after being on loan in the USL last season, the fact he is consistently starting for an MLS team at age 21 is credit to him for putting his head down and continuing to work hard.
Austin FC Keys to the Game
Score First - We’ve seen versions of Austin FC be able to come together and rally for a win when going behind early, particularly in 2022, but there were also some heroic efforts in 2024. Unfortunately, the 2025 edition of the Verde and Black has yet to concede first and win in MLS play this year. Is Montreal a team that you could break that streak against? Sure. But I’d much rather stick with what works and that’s Austin FC scoring first in 2025. When they’ve done so, the team’s record in MLS play is 9-1-1. If the team can net the first goal on Saturday I expect them to command the game through the final whistle. Get your work done early!
Predictions
ZG - 2-0 Austin FC
E - 3-0 Austin FC
