Sporting KC vs CF Montréal: Preview, Predictions & How to Watch

Sporting KC vs CF Montréal

When: Saturday, April 29, 2023 at 7:30 PM CT

Where: Children’s Mercy Park

How to Watch/Stream: Apple MLS Season Pass (FREE)

Here we go… again.

Sporting Kansas City host CF Montréal in Matchday 10 of the MLS regular season, still looking for their first win of the season.

It’s hard to be optimistic with the recent run of form, but if there was ever a club that could get Kansas City to remove the zero from the “W” column, it would be Montréal.

Sporting KC are coming of a “convincing” 3-0 victory over NPSL-side Tulsa Athletic in the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup where we saw the return of Gadi Kinda, Alan Pulido’s first goal since coming back and a few young faces impress for Peter Vermes’ side.

While a win is still a win, it may be worthwhile to temper expectations. SKC scored as many goals against Tulsa as they had all season in regular season play with Daniel Salloi, Erik Thommy, Felipe Hernandez and the aforementioned Pulido on the field for a large chunk of the match.

As expected, SKC had no problem dominating possession and attacking against the NPSL club, but finishing remained an issue.

That’s where the matchup with CF Montréal gets interesting.

The Canadian club is one-of-four MLS teams who have allowed more goals than SKC this season, tied with Real Salt Lake for most allowed (17). They also boast a league-worst -12 goal differential.

Montréal sit at the bottom of the Eastern Conference (2W-6L-0D), though they are coming off back-to-back wins across all competitions.

Montréal’s Recent Form

April 1 @ Vancouver Whitecaps – 5-0 Loss

April 8 @ New England Revolution – 4-0 Loss

April 15 vs D.C. United – 1-0 Loss

April 18 vs Vaughan SC – 2-0 Win (Canadian Championship)

April 22 vs New York Red Bulls – 2-0 Win

The two road losses to start April definitely give Sporting a fighting chance to grab a home victory if they can build on the momentum from the Open Cup win.

What’s the deal with Montréal?

Much like Kansas City, Montréal have struggled to find the back of the net. Their five goals this season came in two games: a 3-2 home victory over the Philadelphia Union and a 2-0 home victory against the Red Bulls.

Of those five goals, one was a penalty scored by Honduran forward Romell Quioto and another was an own goal by Red Bulls defender Andrés Reyes.

Unlike SKC, Montréal are dead-last in shots (76), while Kansas City sits in the top-10 (124), though that obviously has not translated to goals.

The offensive struggles are not the only thing Kansas City and Montréal have in common. On the defensive side of the ball, they stand first and tied for second, respectively, in red cards.

Sporting lead the league with 3 and Montréal are tied with the Chicago Fire and Los Angeles Galaxy with 2.

Neither of these two teams have done much “good” so far this season and both are desperately looking to get their seasons back on track.

Injury/Availability Report

Sporting Kansas City:

Out: Andreu Fontas (Red Card), Willy Agada (tibia stress fracture), Kayden Pierre (hamstring), Tim Leibold (hamstring), Kortne Ford (achilles)

Questionable: Graham Zusi (muscle strain), Nemanja Radoja (hamstring)

CF Montréal:

Out: Jojea Kwizera (hamstring), Lassi Lappalainen (left leg), Jules Vilsaint (right leg), Samuel Piette (adductor), Mason Toye (left knee), Romell Quioto (right leg), Ilias Iliadis (Red Card)

• Sporting KC Injury Updates & Lineup Predictions v CF Montreal

Predictions

Much remains to be seen from either squad, but at least Montréal have earned victories in MLS this season. A midweek win for SKC against a semi-pro side may be enough to light the much needed spark, but personally, optimism isn’t running high.

A win has to come at some point, right? Even if it’s a fluke, but it remains to be seen that Sporting can put together a full 90-minute performance that is worthy of 3 points.

This is the week to do it. I’m afraid of what might happen to the fanbase if SKC earn anything other than a win, but is the locker room feeling that pressure? We’ve heard from captain Johnny Russell in the past speaking about the fans deserving more. Saturday is when it needs to start.

Question: Does a first win of the season against the last place team in the opposing conference on Saturday change your perception of #Sportingkc    moving forward? #MLS

— Juan Cisneros (@jcisne95) April 28, 2023

With the performances this season, it’s hard to remain optimistic about Sporting. Even with several key players missing from Montréal’s starting lineup, I still think SKC is missing that spark.

Prediction: 1-1 Draw