After 14 days without a competitive match, NYCFC will finally take the pitch again in search of a playoff clinching result on Saturday evening in Montreal.
And they’ll have a nearly full squad to get it done.
Internationals Ismael Tajouri-Shradi, Maxime Chanot, Ebenezer Ofori, and Rodney Wallace are all back in the New York groove and have been training with the team after successful outings with their respective national teams.
They look to be joined back in uniform by Jo Inge Berget, who Dome said in his weekly preview is ready to go and help NYCFC break out of the finishing rut that plagued the prior home stand.
Time to hit the road…
NEW YORK CITY FC
- OUT: M - Yangel Herrera (Ankle)
- OUT: D - Cedric Hountondji (Hamstring)
- QUESTIONABLE: M - Jesus Medina (Hamstring)
MONTREAL IMPACT
- OUT: M - David Choiniere (Ankle)
- OUT: D - Kyle Fisher (Quad)
KEY STATS
- New York City FC has lost just one of their eight league matches against the Impact (5W-2D), allowing multiple goals just once.
- Since the start of June, only three clubs have more points or a better goal differential in league play than Montreal (30 points, +10 GD). o NYCFC has now allowed multiple goals in 11 of their 14 away fixtures in MLS play, their most in a single season.
- 17% of Montreal’s goals this season have come from outside the box, tied for the fifth most of any MLS club.
- New York City has three players averaging more than 79 touches per game this year (Maxi Moralez – 85.2, Alexander Ring – 80.6, Alexander Callens 79.1). Prior to this season, only one City player averaged more than 79 touches per game in a season (Andrea Pirlo – 84.4 in 2015).
- Evan Bush needs three more saves to set a new club record for the most saves in a MLS season. He is sitting at 115, as many as he had a season ago.
- David Villa has scored five goals in seven appearances against the Impact, tied for his fifth most goals against a MLS foe. However, he has not scored against them since 2016.
- Alejandro Silva has four goals and eight assists in his last 13 MLS appearances for Montreal. He had zero goals and two assists in his first 13 league appearances for the club.
- Ebenezer Ofori is completing 87.3% of his passes in the opponent’s half this season, tied for the fourth-highest percentage of any player with at least 500 such passes.
- Since the start of the 2014 season, Ignacio Piatti has scored 65 goals in MLS play (inc. playoffs). Only four players have more in that time.
