Two teams outside the Eastern Conference playoff picture in Major League Soccer (MLS) will square off on Wednesday when the New England Revolution host CF Montreal at Gillette Stadium. Over the weekend, the Revs dropped to the bottom of the Eastern Conference with a 3-0 loss to Orlando City, while Le CFM are three points back of a post-season berth following a 2-1 triumph over Charlotte FC. Time is not favouring the New England Revolution, who are in danger of missing the playoffs for a second time in three seasons. Caleb Porter's men are six points below the playoff line but have at least one game in hand on everybody above them in the post-season chase, though they have six teams to catch. New England have lost five of their previous eight domestic encounters, conceding multiple goals in six of those games. Only three of their remaining seven MLS affairs this season occur in Greater Boston, where the Revs have only won four matches this year, with their previous one coming against Atlanta United in early July (2-1). With 30 goals scored in the league this year, this team have netted the second-fewest times in MLS, behind only Nashville SC (28). The Revs have won four of their previous five home meetings with Montreal in this competition, including the last time out at Gillette Stadium in 2023 (4-0). Just when their playoff hopes appeared to be fading, Le CFM found a way to get back into the post-season race with a timely victory on Saturday. That ended a three-match losing run for them in this competition and a four-game MLS winless streak, putting them within reach of a post-season berth. Laurent Courtois's men are on an 11-match winless run in league play away from home, with Montreal claiming a mere three points as the visitors over that stretch. One of their problems throughout the season has been an inability to gain points consistently, winning consecutive league contests just once all season, with those back-to-back victories occurring in March. Defensively, they have been weak throughout the campaign, conceding 59 goals after 28 matchdays, the second-most in the league behind the San Jose Earthquakes (65). Le CFM have not lost consecutive games against the Revs in the same campaign since 2021 but have not beaten them away from home since 2022 (1-0). In their defeat versus Orlando City, New England were without Will Sands because of a sore foot, Brandon Bye is dealing with an ankle issue, Tomas Chancalay has a knee injury and Matt Polster was sidelined with a knock. Alhassan Yusuf made his Revs debut on Saturday, with the 18-year-old playing 18 minutes, and Nacho Gil featured for a second successive encounter after missing a considerable amount of time due to a knee injury sustained in April. Giacomo Vrioni led them with five shot attempts against the Lions, while Esmir Bajraktarevic had three chances created off the bench to lead the team in that department. After suffering an injury during the international window with Canada, Joel Waterman sat out of the previous Montreal encounter, and Joaquin Sosa was sidelined on Saturday because of muscle discomfort. Dominik Yankov was back in the fold for Le CFM last weekend after being unfit for a while, coming on for Nathan-Dylan Saliba with fewer than 10 minutes remaining in the second half. Caden Clark and Bryce Duke scored three minutes apart in the opening half against Charlotte, enabling them to bump a lengthy slump. Neither side have been particularly consistent, but the Revs have started to buy into the methods of Caleb Porter and against a disorganised Montreal defence, we expect a quality chance creator like Carles Gil will be able to unlock that backline. For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.

MONTRÉAL — At the beginning of the year, CF Montreal probably didn’t have Wednesday’s match against the New England Revolution circled on its calendar. But that has likely changed after what happened just over three weeks ago. In front of a full house at Saputo Stadium, Montreal saw fans turn against the team in a crushing 5-0 defeat to the Revolution. The Aug. 24 loss, combined with a 4-1 defeat in Cincinnati seven days later, also cast doubt on Laurent Courtois’ future as the team’s head coach and unity within the group. On Wednesday, Montreal (7-12-9) will have a chance for revenge against New England (8-16-3) in Foxborough, Mass., after getting back to winning ways in Saturday’s 2-1 victory against Charlotte FC. “There’s a small sense of revenge, but it’s mostly about ourselves,” Courtois said Tuesday before a practice at Centre Nutrilait. “It was a key moment in the season when we let ourselves down and let down the fans. “There’s a feeling of showing that the gap wasn’t as big between the two teams. We are determined to present a different face, but at the same time, we just want to turn the page and not dwell on the past.” There are still lessons to be learned from that beating. In the first half, Montreal players were victims of their own lethargy, and in the second half, they simply deviated from the game plan. In the weeks that followed, Courtois and his staff worked on ensuring that their players maintained a high level of effort while staying disciplined in their collective play. They performed slightly better in Cincinnati before delivering a much more complete performance against Charlotte. “If you don’t learn off your mistakes, you’re going to repeat them, so we have to learn about that (loss),” defender Fernando Alvarez said. “During the international break (in September) we were working really hard, physically and obviously tactically. “It was a really difficult game because we lost, and obviously at home it was really painful, but we’re going to work with that pain and give our best face tomorrow.” If the past is any indication of the future, Montreal might not get its revenge. Courtois’s squad has just two road wins this season, and none since March 10 in Miami. At least they’ll head to Gillette Stadium with some momentum. Unlike the match against the Revolution, Montreal dictated the pace against Charlotte at Saputo Stadium, eventually finding the back of the net twice in about three minutes. Despite a reply from Charlotte before the end of the first half, Montreal didn’t flinch and delivered one of its best defensive performances of the season. “Sticking to the basics and sticking to what got us to the win on the weekend,” wingback Jahkeele Marshall-Rutty said of Montreal’s approach going forward. “Anyone can see when you watch our team — when we’re confident, we’re humble and we’re doing the little things, hard work and stuff, that our quality will come out. “So I think just sticking to the basics, and going into tomorrow’s game with the mindset that, yeah, we won on the weekend, but we want more.” The duo of Caden Clark and Bryce Duke showed a lot of creativity in midfield against Charlotte and both players managed to score. Up front, veteran Josef Martinez created more space while being a threat in the penalty box. Courtois may have found a combination that could bring more offensive firepower. “We had talked about finding a little more possession time and having more players in the penalty area,” he said. “We wanted to be present for second balls and second phases of play. They showed some interesting things.” With a win, Montreal would temporarily join D.C. United for ninth place and the last playoff spot in the Eastern Conference. After Wednesday, only five games remain in the MLS regular season. “Everyone believes in the playoffs; I just don’t want us to hesitate or get carried away by small egos,” Courtois said. “We need to focus on finding solutions while putting our personal situations aside. I’d like us to have certainty and not wait for results. That’s what happened on Saturday.” This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 17, 2024.

MLS Regular Season | Match #28 New England Revolution vs. CF Montréal Wednesday, September 18 | 7:30 p.m. ET Gillette Stadium | Foxborough, Mass.

Watch: MLS Season Pass on Apple TV English Talent: Eric Krakauer (play-by-play), Jalil Anibaba (analyst) Spanish Talent: Jesús Acosta (play-by-play), Carlos Suárez (analyst) French Talent: Frédéric Lord (play-by-play), Vincent Destouches (analyst)

Listen: 98.5 The Sports Hub (English) 1260 AM Nossa Radio (Portuguese) English Talent: Brad Feldman (play-by-play), Charlie Davies (analyst)

New England Revolution 15th in Eastern Conference (8-16-3, 27 pts.) Last Result | 3-0 loss at Orlando City SC

The New England Revolution went into last Saturday’s match against Orlando City SC with high hopes for what a positive result could do for their chances of qualifying for postseason soccer this year. Unfortunately, a 23rd-minute screamer from Lions defender Rafael Santos seemed to take the wind out of the team’s sails, and the final scoreline of 3-0 did put something of a dent in New England’s playoff hopes. But although the Revs may be down, they are by no means out. Sitting at the foot of the Eastern Conference, they are nevertheless only six points behind D.C. United in the crucial 9th-place position, with an important two games in hand over the Capital club as well as at least one more to play than all of the teams between them and United. With every home game now vitally important through the rest of the season, the Revolution will be coming into Wednesday night’s test ravenous for a win over a key rival in the race for qualification.

CF Montréal 12th in Eastern Conference (7-12-9, 30 pts.) Last Result | 2-1 win vs. Charlotte FC

Wednesday night’s opponent will be familiar for the Revs, who thrashed CF Montréal 5-0 in their trip north of the border less than a month ago. Montréal followed up that performance with a defeat on the road against FC Cincinnati before returning to Stade Saputo and pulling out a key win over Charlotte FC in their own late-season playoff chase. The last time Montréal was able to string together consecutive league wins was Matchday 4, when they built on a road win over FC Dallas with a major upset of Inter Miami CF in Florida; contrarily, this past Saturday’s win broke the club’s third stretch of at least four winless games this season. You could argue that the Quebecois are due for some mean reversion on Wednesday – or you could argue that they just don’t have a particularly stellar mean to revert to this campaign.

Revolution winger Esmir Bajratarević New additions and returns from injury have meant increased competition for places in the New England starting XI as of late – certainly not a bad problem to have – and this, combined with the international travel around his first senior appearances for the Bosnia & Herzegovina Men’s National Team, meant that Esmir Bajraktarević only made the bench last time out against Orlando City. The young winger had a stellar international break, assisting none other than his childhood idol Edin Džeko on debut, and he will surely be looking to keep that level of performance going in the league.

Bajraktarević very nearly had a helper just minutes after coming off the bench against the Lions, with a reaction shot from striker Giacomo Vrioni veering just wide of the post. That goal would have made it 2-1 with plenty of time left to play, an important reminder of the impact that the Wisconsin native can have on a game, especially in crucial moments.

Montréal midfielder Caden Clark Staying on the topic of rising stars in MLS, life in Canada is getting off to a hot start for the American prospect Caden Clark. The attacking midfielder, who made his debut for Montréal against New England last month, recorded his first goal and assist with CFM on Saturday after joining from Minnesota United FC back at the start of August.

Clark not only notched his side’s first goal in the match, but played an instrumental role in creating the initial chance and subsequently keeping it alive: bursting into Charlotte’s box with pace, converting a lofted ball into a first-time shot with accuracy and zip, opting not to stay on the floor after being bundled over, and finally whipping a deflected Josef Martínez shot into the roof of the net from poacher’s range. Simply put, the young man is hungry to get on the scoresheet, and it shouldn’t come as a surprise if he does so more than a few times between now and Decision Day.

Revolution head coach Caleb Porter on the team’s quick turnaround from Orlando to Montréal: “Obviously, we are disappointed in the result against Orlando. I thought we started the match well in the first 20 minutes, and then after conceding the goal, I felt like we didn’t have the effort, the execution, the energy, or I would call it, the right ingredients to do well the rest of the match. That has been talked about, it has been addressed, but we also have to put it behind us and we have to focus on this next game. It is a must-win game the way we look at it. Obviously, mathematically we know it is not, but we are looking at it as a must-win game. It is a home game, and we need to take it one at a time. If we win this game, then that sets up Charlotte on the road [on Saturday] and we are kind of back on track if we get the job done. All our energy needs to go now toward winning this game against Montreal.”

Porter on facing CF Montréal for the second time in a month in the context of the playoff race: “It is nice to play a team you just played recently. As far as the scout, we can look a lot at the last game [on August 24]. It is fresh in our minds. [CF Montréal] have only played two games since they played us, and we have played three I think. So, there will be some adjustments for sure from their end. They are playing, by and large, a lot of the same guys but there are a few different players in. They are playing [Raheem] Edwards more and a couple new center backs. But the front guys – [Josef] Martínez, Caden Clark, and [Bryce] Duke – have been the same. The two center midfielders [Samuel] Piette and [Nathan] Saliba are the same. It is a game we can look at, a recent game that is fresh in our minds, and it was probably our quickest scout of the year because we could just show clips from that game and talk about what worked. We also reminded them of moments, even though it was 5-0, that they could have scored, so we looked at those things. But for me, the biggest thing is us. It is our mentality. Again, it is making sure that we have 11 guys on the field that are going to work hard and that are going to defend. You have no chance in this league if you don’t have 11 guys that are defending and 11 guys that are united. I don’t care who you are playing. I am very confident that you are going to see a united group of 11 guys working extremely hard to win the game. That is why I feel good about the opportunity to get the result.”

Porter on the likelihood of new midfielder Alhassan Yusuf making the starting lineup: “We signed [Yusuf] to play, but he is coming off of not training and he only got 20 minutes [at Orlando]. When we start guys, typically we like them to be able to get 45 to 60 [minutes] and he is probably not there yet. We are hoping that he gets a bit more in this game. Obviously, we have to do what is best to win the game, though. Depending on the match state, he may or may not get more minutes. As we continue to train more – he got another three training sessions in, so in Charlotte, he could potentially be closer to starting, but this game is still too soon.”

Revolution midfielder Alhassan Yusuf on how the club has welcomed him to New England: “I think it’s the best thing as a new guy coming into a team. When you have these guys trying to speak to you, trying to fit you in, that’s the best thing you can get. It starts from the locker room and then off the pitch, and it goes into the pitch as well. That’s the best thing you can get coming into a team.”

Yusuf on what he learned about the level of play in MLS during his debut on Saturday: “For me, the level is good. It’s really good, from the beginning. I didn’t expect that kind of intensity but when I went into the pitch, I felt it from the beginning. It’s a good level that you can play, you can improve. You never know. You can go anywhere from here, for me.”

Yusuf on how he fits into the team’s style of play: “Even before coming here, I spoke with the coach. He explained everything to me, the system. I saw some clips already, the games also. That’s exactly my style of play, pressing high, running back within the box, transition. I think that’s my way of playing.”