CF Montreal v New York City FC: Pearce enjoying Decision Day pressure

Tom Pearce is hoping to use his experience from suffering relegation and earning promotion during his time in England to help CF Montreal reach the playoffs this weekend.

Pearce joined the club in July from Wigan Athletic, a team he won the League One title with in the 2021-22 campaign, but was then a part of the Latics side who came straight back down the following season.

Montreal knows that a point will be enough to secure their spot in the postseason, though slipping up allows an opportunity for either Philadelphia Union or Atlanta United to pounce.

Having featured in high-pressure games throughout his career, Pearce is relishing the opportunity of helping his new team reach the playoffs.

“It’s exciting that we’re going into the last game of the season, and we’re going for the playoffs, we are looking forward to it and this past week has given us a chance to work on things,” Pearce said.

“We’ve had quite a lot of games over the past few weeks, so to have a little bit of time off and then working to this Saturday has been a positive for us.

“We have promotion and relegation in England so, I have been at both ends of the table during my time there. I wouldn’t say it’s all pressure, it’s more excitement and you take it step by step and hopefully, for us, it will be a positive one.”

On se prépare pour le dernier match de la saison régulière

Decision Day 2024 This Saturday at 6pm against @newyorkcityfc #CFMTL pic.twitter.com/IdBWzVcG1m

— CF Montréal (@cfmontreal) October 16, 2024

NYCFC, meanwhile, kept their hopes of finishing in the top four of the Eastern Conference alive with a 3-1 victory over Nashville SC ahead of the international break.

The Pigeons are currently fifth in the standings but know a victory could push them ahead of Orlando City on Decision Day, with the Lions facing Atlanta in their final game of the season.

NYCFC head coach Nick Cushing was pleased with his side’s display in thier win over Nashville, saying their defensive resiliency is something they can build on ahead of the playoffs.

“Yes and no. We were 3-0 up and you know at some point that they are going to come back into the game,” Cushing said. “They were well coached by a new boss.

“I think it was more of them improving than us taking our foot off the gas. What I do think is that we showed a side that we did in the Cincinnati game and that’s a huge positive moving forward.

“Of course, we will review it and how we want to control games more, but it’s a positive when we defend so well. To show that steel is something I will take as a positive heading into the playoffs.”

PLAYERS TO WATCH

Montreal – Josef Martinez

Martinez has scored six career regular-season goals against NYCFC, one of eight opponents he’s scored against at least six times.

Only Alejandro Pozuelo (seven) has more goals against NYCFC than Martínez since he joined MLS in 2017.

NYCFC – Santiago Rodriguez

Rodriguez has a team-high 22 goal contributions this season (12 goals, 10 assists) for NYCFC, while Alonso Martinez has 19 (16 goals, three assists).

This weekend’s visitors have never had multiple players record 20 or more goal contributions in a single regular season.

This team is on pic.twitter.com/uEgEYO9k9c

— New York City FC (@newyorkcityfc) October 6, 2024

MATCH PREDICTION: DRAW

NYCFC have won six of their last seven matches against Montreal (D1) including the last four in a row. They have never lost in Montreal, though, with their only away defeat in the fixture coming in Harrison, New Jersey in July 2021 (W6 D2 in Montreal all-time).

Cushing’s side have won three straight matches after winning just three of their previous 19 in all competitions dating back to mid-June. NYCFC have scored 11 goals over those three matches, their most in a span of three league matches since April 2022 (14).

Montreal enters the final match of the season with 10 wins in regular-season play in 2024. Montreal have recorded at least 11 victories in each of their last eight full seasons dating back to 2015 (excluding shortened 2020 season).

OPTA WIN PROBABILITY

NYCFC – 34.4%

Draw – 25.8%

Montreal – 39.8%