San Diego
- San Diego won 63 points (19 wins, 9 losses, 6 draws) and CF Montreal 28 (6 wins, 18 losses, 10 draws) in the 2025 MLS regular season.
- San Diego are favorites at 1.45 to win Sunday’s MLS 2026 opener against CF Montréal - and rightly so.
- Mikey Varas’ team were the best in the West last season, taking the conference title in their record-breaking expansion campaign before going deep into the playoffs and beating Mexico’s Pumas UNAM at home in the 2026 CONCACAF Champions Cup.
CF Montréal
- In contrast, CFM ended 2025 with a 3-0 loss at Cincinnati to finish 13th in the East, and have won only one of their past five league matches, although they did beat New England 2-1 in a friendly at the start of February.
- Marco Donadel’s appointment as permanent Montréal head coach has been confirmed and he will attempt to rebuild the club in 2026 following a year of huge roster turnover, including some promising signings.
- New signings Wiki Carmona and Noah Streit should add some creativity and finish to Montréal’s midfield and attack, but the club will focus on structure and stability for the new campaign.
- Prince Osei Owusu remains their biggest threat in front of goal and came off a double-digit scoring season.
Head-to-Head
Montreal’s form-book looks even worse when compared to San Diego’s and there’s no doubting who the favorites are to win this first-ever MLS fixture between the clubs.
San Diego
- Onni Valakari provides the creative drive in midfield, but San Diego’s talisman is Anders Dreyer - the Danish striker who was prominent in his first MLS campaign.
- Dreyer scored in recent playoff fixtures and in the Champions Cup, which they won 4-2 on aggregate.
CF Montréal
- Prince Osei Owusu remains their biggest threat in front of goal and came off a double-digit scoring season.
- New signings Wiki Carmona and Noah Streit should add some creativity and finish to Montréal’s midfield and attack, but the club will focus on structure and stability for the new campaign.
Betting Insights
- San Diego are favorites at 1.45 to win Sunday’s MLS 2026 opener against CF Montréal - and rightly so.
- With Over 2.5 goals coming in at 1.5, we think there will be a few goal opportunities for the home side to get through, which they have the firepower to take - with Manu Duah and Luca Bombino among their attacking options.
Prediction
San Diego, however, should have the quality and hunger to cause Montréal big problems in this game and we believe it could be as easy as 2-0 or 2-1 to the hosts.
