Montreal Impact vs Vancouver Whitecaps Predictions

MLS continues Rivalry Week, with the Canadian Classique taking place in midweek. Montreal Impact host Vancouver Whitecaps in the early hours of Thursday morning, a clash which pits together two sides who have been through a tough spell in the league. These two both sit inside the bottom four in the latest form table, while neither are holding on to a playoff spot ahead of this one. With Vancouver bottom of their conference heading into this one, we can see them struggling to get a result.

The hosts were just beaten by Toronto on Sunday, which has left them three points off the top seven in the Eastern Conference. They trail Toronto by three points following that defeat, but now the hosts are looking to make their return to the playoff places. They will be hoping that home form can help to take them up in the table, having won three of their last four matches at the Stade Saputo ahead of this game.

Vancouver Whitecaps are the Western Conference’s weakest side, while they’re one of the biggest strugglers in the entirety of MLS. They have the second-worst record of all 24 sides, with a huge 48 goals conceded already. They’ve conceded 65% of those goals on the road so far this season, while the visitors have taken just 41% of their points from away games.

Vancouver come here having lost eight of their 15 away games so far, while they’ve been beaten five times across their last seven trips in all competitions. The visitors have shipped over two goals per game on the road, while Montreal have hit form at their own ground with 10 strikes in their last four home matches, going unbeaten in that time. Given how they are approaching this clash, we expect the Impact to win it.

However, the visitors are conceding far too many goals, having let in 1.33 per match at home. In MLS they have one clean sheet in eight at home, while they have one clean sheet in 14 league games overall. For us that points to defensive issues, especially given that their last four meetings with the Whitecaps have seen both teams score. With that in mind, we are going with a home win and both teams to score in this midweek match-up, with Whitecaps worthy favourites to edge it. On top of that, we’re backing  2-1 home win, the most frequent scoreline at this ground this term.