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CF Montreal v New England Revolution: Porter aiming to end road-heavy stretch on a high
CF Montreal welcome the New England Revolution to the Stade Saputo this weekend, aiming to get a much-needed win on the board.
Caleb Porter and the New England Revolution are looking to end a tough period of away games on a high when they face CF Montreal at the Stade Saputo this weekend.
Of the 15 matches the Revs have played this season, 10 have been on the road, with Porter's team picking up 13 of their 20 points on their travels.
In their latest away fixture, New England drew 1-1 with D.C. United, with Gabriel Pirani's goal in second-half stoppage time cancelling out Ilay Feingold's opener.
"We're right there to take the three points and we don't. I think it's disappointing, but we have to move on from it quickly," Porter said.
"We have two days to turn around and go on the road again at Montréal. At the end of the day, it's still a point on the road.
"We'll recover, and then we need to throw everything into this final road game of the week and push to get those three points."
While the focus remains firmly on the next match in Montreal, there's some relief on the horizon, with New England's road-heavy stretch finally easing up after Saturday.
The Revs will spend the entire month of June at home with three games at Gillette Stadium before heading back on the road on July 5.
"We knew these first 15 games were going to be extremely difficult with 10 games of the 15 on the road, if my maths is right," Porter added.
"If you can imagine 10 road games out of 15, that's a daunting start to the season. We're picking up points.
"I know we dropped two points today, there's no doubt, but we will continue to pick up points and be tough to beat. We just have to put it behind us and go and win at Montreal."
Montreal, meanwhile, remain bottom of the Eastern Conference standings following a 4-2 defeat to Inter Miami in midweek.
Lionel Messi and Luis Suarez starred for Javier Mascherano's team, with the former's performance described as "incredible" by interim Montreal boss Marco Donadel.
And despite falling to a 10th defeat of the season, Donadel believes there were positives to take from their display against Miami's star-studded squad.
"I have the feeling that we didn't give our best tonight. We executed what we wanted when we didn't have possession," Donadel said.
"We played down their qualities and we were brave when they had the ball. But we didn't have the same courage when we had possession.
"The first goal we conceded was due to Messi's incredible quality, but I think we were very good defensively in the first half.
"The other goals came as a result of mistakes. However, it's not the mistakes that count, it's the behaviour. I think we could have done more in this game."
PLAYERS TO WATCH
Montreal – Dante Sealy
After ending his nine-game goal drought against Inter Miami, Sealy will be looking to kick on against the New England Revolution after a positive performance in midweek.
The 22-year-old ended with team-high totals for shots (three) and shots on target (two), while also creating two chances, a joint-high alongside Victor Loturi and Caden Clark.
New England Revolution – Carles Gil
Gil recorded six chances created in New England's draw with D.C. United on Wednesday, taking his total to 630 chances created in his MLS career.
Only Diego Valeri (761) and Graham Zusi (691) have created more chances for teammates since Opta began detailed data collection of MLS in 2010.
MATCH PREDICTION: DRAW
New England recorded a 5-0 victory in their last away game against Montreal. The Revs have won three of their last five visits to Montreal, scoring 12 goals in the three wins and none in the other two matches (L2).
They are also unbeaten in eight straight regular-season matches (W4 D4), though each of their last four have ended in draws. This is the third time in club history, and the first since 2006, that the Revs have played out four consecutive draws. They've never drawn five straight regular-season matches.
Montreal, meanwhile, are winless in their first six home games this season (D3 L3), the longest home winless run in league play in the club's MLS history. Only four teams in MLS history have failed to win any of their first seven home matches of a season.
OPTA WIN PROBABILITY
Montreal – 37.7%
Draw – 26.4%
New England Revolution – 35.9%