Montreal Impact: Three hopes, one fear

Hope #2: That Matteo Mancosu can pick up the scoring slack.

Even if Drogba plays he likely will not be playing much. Turf aside, he generally does seem to be injured and he is 38 years old. So if Drogba is limited who will work with Piatti to pick up the scoring slack?

Biello seems to think that the answer is Mancosu. The Impact picked Mancosu in the summer from Bologna on loan. The Serie B top scorer from 2013-2014 has scored three goals in 15 matches, mostly serving as a substitute.

In their 2-2 draw against Toronto FC two weeks ago Biello used Mancosu as a center-forward in a 4-3-3 with Piatti on the right and Dominic Oduro on his left. The move seemed to work out with Mancosu drawing a penalty for the Impact in the 54th which allowed for Piatti to tie the game. Furthermore his pace opened up play more for Piatti and Oduro on the outside.

Montreal aren’t looking for Mancosu to light up the scoring charts. They have Piatti for that. But they are looking for someone to create some chances from the center-forward position and to deflect some attention away from their talisman. If Mancosu can do that against a United side whose center-backs haven’t always looked on the same page this season they may go through.