2024 CPL Regular Season — Match #55
Halifax Wanderers FC vs. Valour FC
July 18, 2024 at 7 p.m. ET/5 p.m. CT
Wanderers Grounds in Halifax, Nova Scotia
Watch Live: OneSoccer.ca & TELUS Ch. 980 // Tickets available here

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After an extended rest, both Halifax Wanderers FC and Valour FC will finally return to the pitch this Thursday at the Wanderers Grounds.

Both sides have been off since the week before last, having missed out on the most recent weekend’s action. Now though, the two rejuvenated sides will be fully prepared for a midweek clash where both teams will be desperate to put some points on the board and make up some ground on the rest of the pack in the Canadian Premier League.

Halifax enter the weekend sitting at the bottom of the league table — albeit with at least one game in hand (if not two) on every other team. They’ve got 10 points through 12 matches so far, but have only won twice in 2024. Last time they played, all the way back on July 6, they spent a frustrating afternoon in Toronto where they lost 2-1, and only got on the board thanks to a Giorgio Probo consolation goal, although they did have a very late penalty shout dismissed.

Still, the Wanderers will be hoping for a successful return to the comforts of home now. They haven’t have the greatest run of form in Halifax this year, with just six points, but the last time they appeared at the Wanderers Grounds they beat Cavalry FC 1-0 in a triumph that looked like it could turn their season around.

Valour, meanwhile, have been out of action since July 7, when they lost 1-0 to Cavalry at home. It was a disappointing result after beating York United the week before, and kept the Winnipeg club the same distance outside the playoffs as Halifax: seven points. Valour are technically ahead of Halifax in the standings with three wins to the Wanderers’ two, but they’ve played one more game and still have just 10 points.

So, a win feels almost essential for both of these teams on Thursday, as they approach the midway point of the campaign — Valour will officially hit the halfway mark with this match.

The two teams do have plenty of recent history against one another; Halifax already hosted Valour earlier this season, and the Winnipeggers recorded their first win of 2024 in that match. However, the Wanderers have beaten Valour more than any other club in their history, with 11 victories from the 20 previous meetings

The luxury of such a long break between matches is both sides have had plenty of time to rest and recuperate, and therefore each manager expects to have a largely healthy squad on Thursday. Outside of long-term concerns who haven’t yet featured this year, Valour are without Juan Pablo Sánchez, who is still a week away from a return. They do have two key suspended players though, with Roberto Alarcón out for the next three after his red card against Cavalry and Dante Campbell sidelined for one game for yellow card accumulation. Halifax, meanwhile, should have a mostly full squad to work with.

It may be a bottom-of-the-table battle, but both of these sides are desperate for all three points to get themselves back in the race.

All CPL matches are available to stream on OneSoccer, FuboTV, or on TELUS Optik TV Channel 980.

3 THINGS TO WATCH

• Who responds better to time off?: Although 10 days of recovery time can be a luxury, for some players there’s also a danger of falling out of match rhythm when you go a week and a half without playing. Halifax coach Patrice Gheisar cautioned on Wednesday that it’s been a balance for him over the past week to make sure he’s given his players time to re-energize and heal any knocks they might have, but also to keep them fully focused on this game against Valour. The team that comes out stronger to begin this game will likely be whichever side has stayed more engaged over the past 10 days. “Sure you can give a few bodies time to recover a bit more, but you can make the mistake of trying to do too much,” Gheisar said. “That’ll derail players from any momentum they may be gaining or trying to gain. … A lot of good things are happening, it’s just trying to keep the group sharp and hungry. I’m certain if I asked the players, 99 per cent of them would have preferred more games than training in that long stretch, but we’re excited that it’s here.”

• Absences won’t change Valour’s approach: The biggest challenge for Phillip Dos Santos in selecting his lineup for this map will be replacing the suspended Roberto Alarcón and Dante Campbell, both of whom have been crucial to the side on both sides of the ball this year. However, Dos Santos stressed on Wednesday that he still won’t make drastic changes, having found a tactical approach he believes in. Zachary Sukunda is likely the natural fill-in for Alarcón at right-back, while Noah Verhoeven will probably get the nod in midfield over Campbell, in order for Valour to maintain their shape. “I think a few dynamic changes, a few tweaks here and there, but don’t expect anything too big,” Dos Santos said. “I think we’ve found some consistency in the way we’ve defended, and allowed our team to breathe a bit more and be better defensively. We don’t want to start doing too many changes; I think the team’s in a good place now with a good base and foundation for us to grow from.”

• Halifax need to re-establish home advantage over Valour: In 2023, the Wanderers went unbeaten against Valour, winning three and drawing one game while not conceding a single goal to the Winnipeg club. In fact, the two goals Valour scored in their match back in May were the first they’d ever scored at the Wanderers Grounds in a CPL game (they’d scored once in a Canadian Championship tie in 2019 as well). Gheisar said on Wednesday that the loss to Valour was a real low point for his side this season, so this opportunity to right that wrong is something Halifax are embracing. “Losing to them at our home pitch, given the success we had against them last year, was something we were unhappy about,” Gheisar said. “That’s not a discredit to them, because they played quite well and they scored two great goals outside the box … but we just have to be better in those games. We have to really own the home pitch and get out and get a good start.”

PROJECTED STARTING XIs

Halifax Wanderers FC: Fillion; Fernandez, Nimick, Loughrey, Timoteo; Bayiha, Callegari, Rampersad, Daniels; Telfer, Ferrin

Valour FC: Viscosi; Sukunda, Mourdoukoutas, Chantzopoulos, Facchineri, Antonoglou; Ohin, Ressurreição, Verhoeven; Swibel, Faria

ALL-TIME SERIES

Halifax Wanderers FC wins: 11 || Valour FC wins: 6 || Draws: 3

Last meeting:

May 20, 2024 — Halifax Wanderers FC 1-2 Valour FC

KEY QUOTES

“I think the turnaround we’ve had, given we experienced some bumps and bruises to put it lightly, to be able to respond with a very strong month of June was something I was very proud of; to see the boys smile and build resilience was incredible. … This is a group that believes in themselves no matter what they’re going through.” — Halifax Wanderers head coach Patrice Gheisar

“We’re playing a Halifax team that is a bit more confident. They’ve lost one in the last six, and were able to get good results. … It’s just a different time for us to play them; we have to focus on ourselves. We have to know what the strengths of the opposition are and respect them, but we need to do our game and for us, it’s about making sure we put 90 minutes together.” — Valour FC head coach Phillip Dos Santos