Enemy Scouting Report - CF Montreal
(image via CF Montreal)
It has been a week since the Houston Dynamo lifted its second US Open Cup trophy in club history. That isn’t a brag, it was a tough match for an already busy month of soccer for the club. Tonight, Houston will be playing their 5th match in 19 days. That’s a lot of games and even more travel time spent. On Saturday, the Texas Derby missed so much of that intensity that it tends to deliver, ending in a scoreless draw. Now the Dynamo travel to Canada, in a place that they’ve yet to earn points from, Stade Saputo.
Montreal has had a down year, compared to the 2022 season in which they finished second in the Eastern Conference and losing in the Conference Semifinals. The team lost their head coach before the start of the current season when Wilfried Nancy was signed by the Columbus Crew. Montreal hired new coach Hernan Losada 20 days after Nancy’s departure. Losada had been without a job after being fired from DC United.
Under Losada, Montreal finds themselves currently in 9th place in the Eastern Conference, trying to secure one of only two remaining playoff spots. However, Montreal has not won a match in their last 6 outings. This could mean that Montreal is bound to finally win tonight against a Dynamo team that has lacked success when visiting them. However, this is a different opponent from years past that they will be hosting.
Here are some of the players that the Dynamo will need to contain if they want to take their first points in Montreal. Injuries has been the story this season for Montreal, but a familiar face to Houston fans will be Romell Quioto. Some love him, some hate him, but his talent on the field can’t be denied. Quioto has been very limited throughout the season due to injuries but will likely see the field against his former team. There could be lots of bad blood for Romell there. Another player to keep an eye on is Mathieu Choiniere. The homegrown has played the second most minutes for the club behind goalkeeper Jonathan Sirois and is the leading scorer with 4 goals and has assisted on 4 more. The versatile midfielder will look to help his team get a win tonight. Lastly, Kwadwo Opoku will be a threat to be dealt with for the Dynamo defenders. Opoku has only appeared in 9 games for Montreal after being acquired via trade from LAFC. Even with only 700 minutes with the club, the Ghanian striker has 3 goals to his name.
CF Montreal Season Record: 11W-4D-16L
Results in the last 30 days:
September 2 – CF Montreal 2-4 Columbus Crew
September 16 – CF Montreal 0-0 Chicago Fire
September 20 - CF Montreal 1-1 FC Cincinnati
September 23 - Atlanta United 4-1 CF Montreal
September 30 - Orlando City 3-0 CF Montreal
Past Match Staring XI (from mlssoccer.com)
There will likely be some variation but look to see many of the players in the graphic starting.
2023 Active Roster
Goalkeepers: Logan Ketterer, Jonathan Sirois, James Pantemis
Defenders: Fernando Alvarez, Zachary Brault-Guillard, Joel Waterman, Aaron Herrera, George Campbell, Gabriele Corbo, Robert Thorkelsson
Midfielders: Victor Wanyama, Samuel Piette, Ahmed Hamdy, Bryce Duke, Nathan-Dylan Saliba, Ousman Jabang, Sean Rea, Mathieu Choiniere
Forwards: Chinonso Offor, Ariel Lassiter, Mason Toye, Sunusi Ibrahim, Jojea Kwizera, Lassi Lappalainen, Jules-Anthony Vilsaint, Romell Quioto, Kwadwo Opoku
Will Houston be able to finally get points in Montreal?
