Wednesday night’s match against Toronto Fc did not start well but after a thrilling comeback, Nashville SC gets a late winner to secure a 3-2 win. Tonight, they will once against welcome CF Montréal to Nissan Stadium. Will Nashville secure their first back-to-back win? Will Montreal be able to handle some key absences?
Nashville SC
Many times this season, Nashville SC has given up an early goal and had to fight back to earn even a draw. On Wednesday night, Nashville was finally able to secure that comeback win with a pair of goals from Luke Haakenson. In his post-match press conference, Coach Smith had this to say, “As I’ve said: the resilience, the determination, and character in this group is unquestionable. But I think this come-from-behind result and to get three points on the board for the first time this season is something that should really resonate inside all of these players, and it gives us a great platform to go towards the weekend.”
Nashville will still be without Dom Badji and Luke Haakenson is questionable with a hip injury. The most notable absence could be Walker Zimmerman missing due to the birth of his first child. This would mean, Jack Maher would get another chance to start.
While it may be a short week, I expect to see Coach Smith roll out his preferred 4-2-3-1 with Hany Muhktar playing more as a withdrawn striker. CF Montréal will be without their starting midfield and should not need to overload midfield. Aníbal Godoy and Dax McCarty should have no problem dictating control of the midfield.
CF Montréal
Wilfried Nancy’s CF Montréal started off the season with a great run of form but have struggled the past few matches. They have only 1 win in the last four matches and that was against Chicago Fire. Regardless of the poor run in form, they are still exceeding expectations on the season.
Against Nashville, they will be looking to minimize damage where possible. The team is dealing both with an injury crisis and two players out to due to card accumulation and Coach Nancy will have the tough task of putting together a cohesive team.
The toughest hole to fill will be replacing Victor Wanyma in the center of the field. Wanyama is the heartbeat of this team and dictates much of the play for this team and is responsible for transitioning play. Ahmed Hamdy or Emanuel Maciel will slot in to fill the void.
Injury report
#CFMTL
— Ben Wright (@benwright) June 25, 2021
OUT: Ballou Tabla (groin), Erik Hurtado (hip), Joel Waterman (hip), Romel Quioto (hip)
SUSPENDED: Zorhan Bassong (red card), Victor Wanyama (yellow card accumulation)
Pod picks
Ben Wright
Score: Nashville 1 – 0 Montréal
Scorers: Randall Leal
MOTM: Randall Leal
Bold Prediction: Lovitz creates 3+ chances
Andy Simmons
Score: Nashville 1 – 0 Montréal
Scorers: Aníbal Godoy
MOTM: Aníbal Godoy
Bold Prediction: Godoy banger
Jonathan Slape
Score: Nashville 2 – 0 Montréal
Scorers: Randall Leal, Hany Mukhtar
MOTM: Randall Leal
Bold Prediction: Rodrigo Piñeiro comes off the bench and plays at least 20 minutes
Have a prediction for this week’s match? Vote in our Fan Forecast.
After a thrilling comeback win, #EveryoneN are back at Nissan Stadium to face #CFMTL
— Speedway Soccer (@SpeedwaySoc) June 26, 2021
Vote in our #FanForecast poll and reply with a #BoldPrediction. #NSHvMTL
Kit matchup
Match Info
Teams: Nashville SC v CF Montréal
Power Rankings: Nashville (6th) vs CF Montréal (21st)
Odds: NSH (-200), Draw (+2275), MTL (+575) vs MGM
Date: Saturday, June 25th
Time: 7:30 PM central, Nissan Stadium, Nashville, Tennessee
TV: MyTV 30 (local), ESPN+ (out of market)
Radio: 94.9 The Game 2 (English); El Jefe 96.7 (Spanish)
Forecast: 92°/73°. Mostly Sunny. 0% chance of rain. 47% humidity.
