CF Montreal head coach Philippe Eullaffroy believes Alexis Sanchez can help his side get "lost points back".

Sanchez completed a free transfer to Montreal on Tuesday, but will be unavailable for their MLS matchup with D.C. United this weekend.

Montreal have struggled in front of goal recently, scoring just twice across their last four games (D2 L2), while their last win in MLS came in early May.

Both goals came in their comeback draw against the New England Revolution last time out, and their current run has seen them drop to 14th in the Eastern Conference.

However, Eullaffroy is confident Sanchez, who could make his debut against the Columbus Crew on Wednesday, can help make the difference in the attacking third.

"The emotion I was feeling (about the signing) was 'wow,'" Eullaffroy said.

"I immediately thought about when he was playing at Arsenal and his amazing season in Marseille.

"After that you say 'OK, now I need to manage him. What can he bring to the team and how can we put him in the best condition to show his abilities?

"We're missing that last bit of finish, and if you look at the numbers, we’ve lost six points because of it.

"The hope is that this player is the one to help us get those lost points back. We’re not far off in every game we play."

D.C. United are unbeaten in their last five games, though four of those games have ended in a draw.

They, like Montreal, fought back from two goals down last time out to rescue a point against Nashville SC, who lead the East.

PLAYERS TO WATCH

CF Montreal – Brayan Vera

Vera scored his first goal for Montreal in their 2–2 draw with New England last time out in MLS, and that strike came from outside the area.

Eight of Vera's 10 career regular-season goals have come from outside the box, with one of the other two being a penalty.

D.C. United – Tai Baribo

Baribo scored for a fourth consecutive regular-season game with his game-tying goal against Nashville SC last time out.

It is the first time D.C. have had a player score in at least four consecutive MLS games since Ola Kamara scored in six straight matches during the 2021 season.

MATCH PREDICTION – CF MONTREAL WIN

Montreal and D.C. United have played out draws in four of their last six regular-season meetings, including the last three in a row.

Prior to this stretch, the two teams had recorded consecutive league draws just once, with a pair of 1-1 draws in 2016.

The Opta supercomputer's projections suggest a draw could be possible, though Montreal are given the edge on home soil.

That is despite Saturday's hosts going winless in their last seven regular-season games (D4 L3), their fourth consecutive season with a winless streak of at least seven matches after having only two such streaks within a single season (both in 2014) in the previous 11 years.

OPTA WIN PROBABILITY

CF Montreal – 46.1%

D.C. United – 27.2%

Draw – 26.7%