As stated earlier, Sporting’s stop in Montreal is the first of three road matches in an eight-day road trip. Sporting’s one win on the road this season came against Nashville on June 19 when the visitors snapped Nashville’s two-year unbeaten streak at home. Montreal has done well at home this season, posting a 5-3-0 record with 16 goals scored.
Following Saturday’s match in Quebec, Sporting will face Western Conference rivals Minnesota United at Allianz Field and Real Salt Lake at Rio Tinto Stadium. After this stretch, Sporting will play just four more MLS matches away from home, finishing out the MLS regular season with eight of the final 12 matches at Children’s Mercy Park.
Looking at Saturday’s opponent Montreal currently sits in a tie for third place in the east with 29 points. This comes after a slow start to the season where they went 0-3-0 in their first three matches. Montreal then found their footing, earning results in their next eight matches (6-0-2) before colling off and losing four of their next seven. In that seven-match span, they are 2-2-0 at home. The streaky Montreal side has the most points of any MLS team with a negative goal differential, conceding 33 goals to their 32 goals scored.
Montreal missing Mihailovic
A big reason for Montreal’s recent run of form has been midfielder Djordje Mihailovic’s absence due to injury. The club’s leading scorer has not played since May 28 when he suffered an ankle injury in a 4-3 win over FC Cincinnati. Mihailovic was also ruled out of the U.S. Men’s National Team camp in early June, meaning he was not able to play in the USMNT’s friendly against Uruguay at Children’s Mercy Park. Despite missing his club’s last four matches, the potential MVP candidate has scored seven goals and added three assists. When he plays Montreal is 7-5-2, without their talisman, they are 2-2-0.
Sporting will be without defender Kortne Ford, midfielder Ozzie Cisneros and forward Nikola Vujnovic as well as Gadi Kinda and Alan Pulido. The offensive weapons of Daniel Salloi and Johnny Russell are ready to go as they gear up for a busy July. Russell leads Sporting with five goals in MLS play and seven goals in all competitions. Salloi has four MLS goals and six in all competitions.
