Partner Content | Tiger-Cats vs. Alouettes picks and odds: Bet on Montreal to build on its momentum

After bringing the Winnipeg Blue Bombers’ hopes for an undefeated season to an end in Week 10, the Montreal Alouettes host the Hamilton Tiger-Cats on Sunday.

The pregame narrative: Montreal is coming off a dramatic overtime victory over the Grey Cup favourites while the Tiger-Cats defeated the Toronto Argonauts at home after losing to them on the road in Week 9.

Check out our Tiger-Cats vs. Alouettes picks for Aug. 20.

Tiger-Cats vs. Alouettes picks overview

Tiger-Cats vs. Alouettes picks

Best bet: Alouettes -2.5 (-110)

Although these teams share the same record (3-6), there are some clues indicating that the Alouettes are a better team to back in this one — even if they’re giving a few points.

Of course, the most obvious one is the fact that they just pulled an absolutely massive upset against one of the league’s elite teams. They also have a better point differential (-14) than Hamilton (-41) despite playing a much more difficult schedule.

Montreal has held its own when facing West Division teams, going 2-4 with two of those losses coming by three points or fewer. Hamilton, on the other hand, has gone 0-5 against the CFL’s stronger division with a point differential of -43.

We can’t ignore Hamilton’s 24-17 win over Montreal in Week 8, but we have a hard time envisioning a repeat. One of the biggest reasons is the Alouettes’ home-field advantage.

The Tiger-Cats are the only CFL team without a road win, while Montreal has a positive point differential at home (+8).

Hamilton also took care of the ball extremely well in that game, though that hasn’t been its MO this season. The Tiger-Cats lead the CFL in turnovers (30) and possess the league’s worst turnover differential (-18), so it’s likely they’ll make some costly mistakes in this one.

Key stat: The Tiger-Cats have lost each of their four road games by five-plus points.

Quick picks

Under 48.5 points (-110): The Alouettes’ defence deserves a little more respect than their season-long numbers would warrant after holding the Blue Bombers to 17 points. After playing in mostly high-scoring games early in the year, the Alouettes have been under this total in two of their last three — including when these teams met July 28.

The Tiger-Cats are 5-4 hitting this under. They possess the third-worst scoring offence in the CFL (21.7 points per game) and their defence, which has been surprisingly leaky at times, has allowed the second-fewest yards per game (325.0).

Read more: Odds to win the Grey Cup