Toronto FC vs. Montreal Impact | 2017 MLS Match Preview

Sam Stejskal

Toronto FC vs. Montreal Impact
2017 MLS Match Preview
BMO Field – Toronto, Ontario
Wednesday, September 20 – 7:30 pm ET
WATCH: TSN1/4/5, TVA Sports in Canada | MLS LIVE in the US

Toronto FC won’t merely be looking to take a major step towards history on Wednesday night – they’ll be hoping to deliver a virtual death blow to their biggest rivals, too.

Despite resting both Sebastian Giovinco and Jozy Altidore, Toronto’s march towards the league record books continued with their dominant 4-0 win at LA on Saturday night. The victory narrowed TFC’s Supporters’ Shield magic number to five, extended their unbeaten run to 11 and pulled the club within six points and two wins of tying the single-season MLS records in those respective categories.

Montreal are trending in the opposite direction. After ripping off four straight wins to climb back into the playoff race, the Impact have lost four in a row to drop six points under the playoff line. Saturday’s 3-2 home defeat to lowly Minnesota United was a nadir, prompting club owner Joey Saputo to issue a statement apologizing to Montreal supporters for the team’s recent form.

With just six games remaining in the regular season, they’ll need a win on Wednesday to realistically extend their playoff hopes. That’ll be a tall order in Toronto, who are 11-0-3 at BMO Field this year.

Toronto FC

Suspended: None
Suspended after next caution: M Michael Bradley
International Duty: None
Injury Report: OUT – M Benoit Cheyrou (calf tear), D Nick Hagglund (left MCL sprain)

Projected Lineup
(3-5-2, left to right)
GK: Alex Bono – Chris Mavinga, Drew Moor, Eriq Zavaleta – Justin Morrow, Victor Vazquez, Michael Bradley, Marky Delgado, Nicolas Hasler – Sebastian Giovinco, Jozy Altidore

Notes: Toronto have been completely dominant at BMO Field recently, winning their last four home games by a 15-1 margin ... Alex Bono had an assist in TFC's win at LA, marking the first time a Toronto goalkeeper recorded a regular season assist since Joe Bendik tallied a helper in May 2014.

Montreal Impact

Suspended: None
Suspended after next caution: M Hernan Bernardello, D Laurent Ciman, M Blerim Dzemaili, D Victor Cabrera
International Duty: None
Injury Report: OUT – D Ambroise Oyongo (right knee surgery)

Projected Lineup
(4-3-3, left to right)
GK: Evan Bush – Daniel Lovitz, Laurent Ciman, Victor Cabrera, Chris Duvall – Patrice Bernier, Samuel Piette, Blerim Dzemaili – Ignacio Piatti, Anthony Jackson-Hamel, Ballou Tabla

Notes: The Impact have won just one of their last seven road games (1-4-2). Montreal have conceded three or more goals four times in those seven matches ... Patrice Bernier's goal on Saturday against Minnesota was his first regular season goal since September 2013. He'd made 92 regular season appearances between goals.

All-Time Series

This is just the second regular season meeting between the Canadian rivals this year. Toronto took the first matchup, beating the Impact 3-1 at Stade Saputo on Aug. 27 to start Montreal’s current slide.