D.C. United midfielder Matti Peltola believes the team can improve even further after their positive start to the 2026 season.

After finishing bottom of the Eastern Conference last year, D.C. are eighth after 14 games this term.

They could even move as high up as fifth when they host CF Montreal at Audi Field in their final game before the World Cup break.

Peltola praised D.C.'s improvement in the defensive third, but insisted they can become stronger in attack.

"Well, it's easy to say, if we compare it to previous years, that this has definitely been a step forward for us as a team and as a club," Peltola told The District Press.

"I still think there's a lot we can improve, and we'll do our best to improve so that we'll have even better results, and we'll be having better performances also. But overall, I think it has been a positive start of the season for us.

"I think now, lately, we’ve managed to build a solid base on basically being solid defensively. 

"I know we conceded three goals [in a loss to the Chicago Fire on May 13th], but I think overall we are a team that is hard to play against and that needs to be something that is deep in our DNA.

"But then on the other side of the coin is how we can be better with the ball, how we can maximize our own opportunities, and create even more opportunities with the ball.

"So I think that's something we'll look to improve."

After three wins in four MLS games (L1), Montreal are winless in their last two after following up a 2-2 draw against the Portland Timbers with a 2-0 defeat to the Chicago Fire.

Montreal are 12th in the East, four points behind upcoming opponents D.C. United.

PLAYERS TO WATCH

D.C. United – Peglow

Peglow scored in the 90th minute against St. Louis City SC last Saturday, becoming the third D.C. United player this season to score a result-changing goal in the 90th minute or later.

Only FC Cincinnati (four) have had more different players to do so.

CF Montreal – Prince Owusu

Prince Owusu has 11 goal contributions through his first 13 games of the season.

He joins Djordje Mihailovic (2022), Saphir Taider (2020) and Ignacio Piatti (2016, 2018) as one of four Montreal players to record 10+ goal contributions in the team’s first 13 games of a season.

MATCH PREDICTION – D.C. UNITED WIN

Both 2025 meetings between D.C. United and CF Montreal ended in a draw, the first time since 2016 that all meetings between the sides in a season were drawn.

D.C. have lost just once in the last six meetings (W2 D3) after Montreal lost only one of the previous six matches in the series (W4 D1).

D.C. earned a draw with a 90th-minute goal in their last match. They have eight points from losing positions this season, tied for the fifth-most in MLS, and have scored a result-changing goal in the 80th minute or later in three of their last six matches.

Montreal, meanwhile, have lost four straight on the road and six of their first seven matches away from home in 2026. The team’s four-game road losing streak is their longest within a single season since a four-game stretch in August-October 2023.

OPTA WIN PROBABILITY

D.C. United – 52.2%

Draw – 23.2%

CF Montreal – 24.6%