Montreal and Columbus Fight for Breathing Room at the Bottom of the MLS Eastern Conference

When two teams arrive neck and neck near the bottom of the Eastern Conference table, every point counts double. CF Montreal (15th) hosts Columbus Crew (13th) at Stade Saputo in MLS action, with just two points separating them in the standings. Neither side can afford to give anything away in what remains of the season.

Montreal arrives banged up. So far this campaign the club has gone 5-6-14 in 25 matches, with 31 goals scored and 51 allowed, a mark that leaves it with the worst goal differential in the Eastern Conference. Recent form hasn't helped either: over its last five games, Montreal has gone 1-1-3. Still, that lone win came in its most recent outing, offering a bit of relief for a team that needs to respond at home.

Columbus isn't in a much different spot. Its record on the season stands at 6-5-14 in 25 matches, with 35 goals scored and 42 allowed. Over its last five games, the Crew also went 2-3, with no draws at all, an all-or-nothing stretch in every recent outing.

It's also worth looking at how each side performs based on venue, though separate from their overall season record. Playing at home in the 2026 MLS season, across a sample of 12 matches, Montreal averages 1.333 goals scored and 1.25 allowed, with a 25% clean sheet rate, and tends to generate more attacking output between the 46th and 60th minutes. Prince Owusu is, in that same sample, the club's top offensive threat with 13 goals. Columbus, meanwhile, on the road and across that same 12-match sample, averages 1.5 goals scored but 2.25 allowed, without a single clean sheet, and tends to do damage between the 31st and 45th minutes. Wessam Abou Ali tops that list with 5 goals, though he isn't listed in today's projected lineup.

Head to Head and Projected Lineups

The head to head record clearly favors the visitors: of 8 meetings, Columbus has won 4, Montreal 1, with 3 draws, and the Crew holds a 15-10 edge in goals over the Canadian side.

As a projection with low confidence, Montreal could line up with Sebastian Breza in goal, a back line of Luca Petrasso, Jalen Neal, Brayan Ceballos and Brandan Craig, Matty Longstaff, Dante Sealy, Victor Loturi and Wiki Carmona in midfield, and Prince Owusu alongside Daniel Rios up top. Columbus, with medium confidence, projects with Patrick Schulte in goal, Sean Zawadzki, Malte Amundsen, Steven Moreira and Brooks Lennon on defense, Tarun Karumanchi, Andre Gomes, Taha Habroune and Santiago Rodriguez in midfield, and Josef Martinez paired with Brais Mendez up front.

What the Numbers Say

Our model projects a tight match, though with a slight lean toward the visitors.

These numbers point more toward a technical toss-up with a slight nod to the Crew than any wide gap between the two sides. This is our own estimate based on season trends, not a betting line or a definitive forecast. On top of that, our model puts the probability of more than 2.5 goals at 71% and the chance of both teams scoring at 69%, which lines up with two clubs that tend to give up goals easily.

With both sides in need of points and separated by so little in the standings, the match at Stade Saputo shapes up as one of those head to head clashes that could shift either team's mood heading into the rest of the season.