Midweek MLS is upon us, as one of the busiest stretches of the year marches on for CF Montréal.

Wednesday's opponent is a Portland Timbers side that sits outside the playoff places in the Western Conference, and has alternated wins and losses over the past six weeks.

The Impact are in solid form, winning three of their last four matches in MLS since interim boss Philippe Eullaffroy took over in mid-April.

Montréal has found lots of success against Portland in recent years, winning three and drawing two of the past five meetings between the teams. The Timbers haven't beaten the bleu-blanc-noir since a May 2015 fixture at Stade Saputo.

How Montréal enter the match

It was the late, late show against Orlando on Saturday, with two second-half stoppage-time goals from Daniel Ríos and Dagur Dan Thórhalsson pushing the Impact to a 2-0 victory, their fourth successive home win in all competitions.

They dominated the expected goals and shots tables in a way they haven't all season, and in the end, it was another positive performance for a squad riding good form as the World Cup break beckons.

The squad has settled into a pretty standard 4-3-3 shape under the interim boss, with Samuel Piette's addition and a switch to a more zonal marking defensive system helping solidify things defensively. The team has also enjoyed a bit more juice in transition, with Matty Longstaff in particular having license to go forward and join the attack.

These changes have led to three wins and one loss in MLS play, and a more predictable 5-0 win last Wednesday over the Calgary Blizzard in the Canadian Championship. 

A key against this Timbers side will be using the pace and ability in transition of the front line, particularly wingers Iván Jaime and Wiki Carmona, against a back line that lacks in pace.

Two weeks ago, Real Salt Lake were able to find a lot of joy playing this way against Portland, and that will surely be something the Impact will look to emulate.

How the Portland Timbers enter the match

It's been an up-and-down season for Phil Neville's side, with them picking up some big wins, such as this weekend's 6-0 win over Sporting KC, as well as beating solid teams like San Diego and LAFC. However, they've picked up six losses in 11 matches, including twice to the Vancouver Whitecaps.

They sit 11th in the West, three points out of the final playoff spot with a game in hand, but will need to find some consistency to start climbing the standings.

When they're on their game, they can dominate games by creating a ton of chances through dynamic attackers such as David Da Costa, Kristoffer Velde and Kevin Kelsy. However, too often they seem stagnant against teams that are organized defensively, and they give up far too many goals and chances of their own.

To illustrate their defensive struggles, we can look at that aforementioned game against RSL from last weekend. While the final scoreline was only 2-0, the Timbers allowed 25 shots, 15 of which were on target for 3.77 expected goals. If not for Canadian 'keeper James Pantemis, it would've been much worse.

In terms of xG conceded, Portland is sixth-last in the league and has played a game fewer than most other teams. Only six teams have conceded more than their 21 goals so far this season, as well.

All in all, this is a team that can certainly score when they're feeling it, but will also give up a ton the other way if a team can take advantage of it. Montréal will definitely have space and time to create some chances in transition on Wednesday.

Availability

For Montréal, it appears Fabian Herbers, Hennadiy Synchuk, Bode Hidalgo and Owen Graham-Roache will remain out due to injury. While Sunusi Ibrahim's name was removed from the injured list, he was not part of the matchday squad Saturday and did not train with the group.

For Portland, Omir Fernández remains out with a foot injury that has sidelined him all season, while Juan Mosquera is a question mark after seemingly being set to return to the squad from a knee injury Saturday, but ended up not making the bench.

Projected XIs

It's sometimes a bit difficult to predict midweek lineups, as managers can typically elect to go with a bit of squad rotation when there are three matches in a week, as there are for both sides in this one.

TrueNorthFoot projects just a change or two on each side to keep the squads fresh, as each manager pushes to get their squad into a playoff spot with just a few weeks to go until the World Cup break.

CF Montréal (4-3-3): Thomas Gillier; Luca Petrasso, Brayan Vera, Efrain Morales, Dawid Bugaj; Matty Longstaff, Samuel Piette, Frankie Amaya; Iván Jaime, Prince Owusu, Wiki Carmona

Portland Timbers (4-2-3-1): James Pantemis; Jimer Fory, Kamal Miller, Finn Surman, Brandon Bye; Joao Ortiz, Cole Bassett; Antony, David Da Costa, Kristoffer Velde; Kevin Kelsy

Game information and how to watch

📆 Wednesday, May 13, 2026
⏰ 7:30 pm ET / 4:30 pm PT
📺 Apple TV / RDS / TSN5
🧑‍⚖️ TBD
🏟 Stade Saputo, Montreal, Canada