CF Montreal vs Nashville SC Prediction, MLS Odds

Edgar Chaput
June 20, 2023

Hernan Losada’s Montreal group got back on track a couple of weeks ago by defeating Minnesota at home 4-0, but the arrival of Nashville presents an altogether greater challenge. The latter sits second in the Eastern Conference.

Given the discrepancy between the sides, the MLS odds have Nashville SC as -111 favourites, with Montreal lagging behind at +265.

CF Montreal +140
Draw +242
Nashville SC +176

CF Montreal vs Nashville SC Betting Analysis

Were the French Canadian club to pull off the upset on Wednesday in front of its fans, it would mark the very first time they earn a win over their rivals. The Tennessee-based franchise entered MLS in 2020 and since then has a near-spotless 4-0-2 record (win-loss-draw) against this week’s opposition.

This will be their second tête-à-tête of the season, the first one taking place in Nashville in March with a 2-0 final going their way.

The tale of the 2023 CF Montreal is one of two sides, the home team and the away team. Frankly, they’ve been rubbish when travelling, earning themselves a paltry 1-8-1 record. Conversely, when playing at Stade Saputo in the shadow of the Olympic Stadium, they’re 6-1.

Therein lies the possibility for magic on Wednesday. Nashville are respectable away from home, but far from great, having only gone 3-2-3 so far. On the flip side, they have the best goal differential in the conference at +15, whereas Montreal, despite clinging to the precious final playoff spot, is an ignominious -8. When things go bad, they go really bad.

CF Montreal

As previously stated, the last time the team partook in an MLS game, things went swimmingly (they have since lost the Canadian Championship final, a non-MLS competition).

Minnesota United FC was in town on June 10, and they ended up being easy prey for a Montreal club that not only plays well at home but was desperate for a win to remain in the race for a playoff spot. The hosts opened the scoring early with a dedicated effort from Mason Toye in the seventh minute. A through ball that could have been halted by a couple of Minnesota defenders wasn’t, and Toye dashed and hurdled his way toward the box before flicking the ball over the keeper. Brilliant stuff.

From there Montreal poured misery onto the visitors. Zachary Brault-Guillard, recently called up by Team Canada for the Gold Cup, smashed a shot from the left side of the box in the 13^th, Toye pounced on a juicy rebound off a corner kick in the 57^th, and stalwart Rudy Camacho put the icing on a 4-0 cake in the 76^th.

Nashville SC

Nashville played much more recently over the past weekend against new kids on the block St. Louis CITY SC. It wasn’t necessarily an easy win, and St. Louis gifted them a considerable advantage by taking a red car, but Nashville still showed some quality that explains their ascension in the standings.

The 3-1 victory belied how terrific a game this was. St. Louis is surprising a lot of people by leading the Western Conference at this stage in the season – an admittedly congested conference, to be fair. It comes as to surprise that Hany Mukhtar is first in the MLS in goals scored with 13 goals. He netted a hat trick in this game, including a smashing penalty in the 75^th minute to put the game to bed. Yes, the offence was given a break when St. Louis’ Kyle Hiebert made a red card-worthy tackle in the 68^th, but good teams can pounce on their chances, and that’s what Nashville did.