Montreal Impact players celebrate their lone goal in last season's first leg of the Concacaf Champions League final. (Photo : Reuters)
MLS clubs Montreal Impact and Vancouver Whitecaps faces each other in the final of the 2015 Canadian Championship tournament. The first leg will be held at the Saputo Stadium in Montreal, Quebec on Wednesday, August 12 while the second leg is on August 26 at the BC Place in Vancouver, British Columbia.
The final is a two-game aggregate goal series including the away goals rule, which is the same for the whole tourney. This preview and prediction is about the first leg of the final.
The Caps beat North American Soccer League team FC Edmonton in the semifinals, 3-2 on aggregate, to advance in the championship round, as reported by the MLS official website.
Meanwhile, the Impact defeated fellow MLS squad Toronto FC in the semis on away goals after their series was tied at 3-3 on aggregate, as per CBC Sports.
Montreal is keen on winning it for the third straight year, but Carl Robinson's squad are favored to take away the title this time from the two-time defending champions of Frank Klopas. This first leg match will be the key to winning the crown for either team this year.
The predicted results is a close 2-1 win for the Caps. Vancouver is actually the stronger team on paper, but being the reigning champs, Montreal's pride will allow them to stay at par with the Blue and White. The second leg of this final is a different story, though.
Montreal Impact starting lineup (4-2-3-1 formation): Bush; Oyongo, Lefevre, Cabrera, Miller; Donadel, Alexander; Venegas, Piatti, Romero; Oduro
Vancouver Whitecaps starting lineup (4-2-3-1 formation): Ousted; Harvey, Kah, Waston, Beitashour; Koffie, Laba; Manneh, Mezquida, Techera; Rivero
