The Montreal Impact attempt to snap out of a late-season slide and get closer to securing a playoff berth under first-year coach Thierry Henry on Sunday when they host Orlando City SC in Harrison, N.J.

Montreal (7-12-2, 23 points) has lost four of its last five matches and currently sits ninth in the Eastern Conference, which has 10 postseason bids up for grabs in an expanded format.

The Impact were badly outplayed in their most recent defeat, a 1-0 home loss to expansion Nashville SC in which the visitors led 16-6 in shots and 6-2 in efforts on target.

That leaves Montreal in need of a win against one of the strongest teams in the East. But it has succeeded in previous matches against Toronto FC and the Columbus Crew, two of the top three in the conference standings entering the weekend.

"Obviously we know that Orlando is a strong side," midfielder Samuel Piette said after the loss to Nashville. "They're pretty strong and they will come out strong because they're having a good season. But I think we can compete with any team and it's on us to show that passion and desire that we can stay above that red line."

Orlando (9-3-8, 35 points) is trying to solidify a top four spot and a first-round home playoff game. The club currently trails third-place Columbus on the first tiebreak of total wins, and leads fifth-place New York City FC by two points, with a match in hand.

The Lions are coming off a resounding 4-1 home win over Atlanta United, their first at Exploria Stadium against their rivals since the series between the clubs began in 2017.

That victory may have hurt Atlanta's chances to avoid missing the playoffs for the first time in their club's history. Now Orlando has to try and match the intensity of another club attempting to secure its playoff spot.

"There's a lot of teams still right on the playoff bubble and Montreal is one of them," said Orlando forward Tesho Akindele, who scored in the win over Atlanta. "So we know they're going to be fighting and clawing for the points and we have to be ready for that."

--Field Level Media