Orlando City vs CF Montreal Prediction: It was never in doubt for Orlando City

Orlando City and CF Montreal are paired on the opening day of the season at the Exploria Stadium. The last time these two clubs faced each other at the Exploria, Orlando City won 3-0 in their second league game, after losing 2-0 in the first encounter. As expected, Orlando City will hope to apply the advantage as they try to get all 3 points on the opening days of the season.

Orlando City were really in fine form during the preseason games as they won 4 games and drew once in all 5 preseason games. CF Montreal were however not impressive in their preseason run and it resulted in 1 draw and 3 defeats in 4 games. 

Although it is quite a gamble to give Orlando City the nod in this clash, there's just a very good reason to see them coming out of this clash with all 3 points at the end.

Orlando City

With the preseason behind them, Orlando City are now in for some serious business. They were absolutely fantastic throughout the preseason games as they started off with a draw against Flamengo, before winning 4 games in a row against Rhode Island, New England Revolution, Houston Dynamo and Colorado Rapids. Now the fans are hoping they can transfer that form into the league this season. 

Orlando City were a strong team last season as they ended in 2nd place, with 6 points behind league leaders FC Cincinnati. Facundo Torees scored 14 goals for Orlando City last season and Duncan McGuire was not far behind with 13 goals while Martin Ojeda registered 7 assists. 

This season Orlando City will be aiming for the ultimate prize and with all the preparations in place, they look like a team destined for great things in this campaign.

CF Montreal

CF Montreal might not get all the answers on time for the opening day clash with Orlando City. They had the preseason games to prepare ahead of the new season, and at the end it was a poor experience for the team. They held Minnesota United to a draw in the first game before losing against Atlanta United, Colorado Rapids and Tampa Bay. Against Colorado Rapids and Tampa Bay, they conceded 10 goals and managed to score just 3. 

CF Montreal ended in 20th spot on the MLS table, with 41 points from 34 matches. They recorded 12 wins, 5 draws and 17 defeats at the end of the season. Kwadwo Opoku was the highest goal scorer for CF Montreal with just 6 goals and he also had the most assists (3) at the end of the season. Such stats call for reinforcements ahead of the new season. But at the moment all efforts seem to be to no effect and CF Montreal might just be heading into another poor season.

Head to Head

There's been nothing to separate both clubs in their last 20 meetings. Orlando City won 9 matches, same as CF Montreal and they played a draw in just 2 matches.

Analysis and Predictions

The quality of both clubs will be on full display in this opening match. Orlando City are of course the dominant team, while CF Montreal are the weak team. It should be an easy day for Orlando City to grab all 3 points. 

Analysis of the h2h shows, there's been less than 2.5 goals in 5 of their last 7 meetings and more than 4.5 cards in their last 6 meetings. There were also less than 10.5 corners in their last 5 meetings.

• Orlando City to Win at 1.65 Odds
• Orlando City to Win at 1.648 Odds
• Orlando City to Win at 1.61 Odds