2024 CPL Regular Season — Match #16
York United vs. Valour FC
May 10, 2024 at 7 p.m. ET
York Lions Stadium in Toronto, ON
Watch Live: OneSoccer.ca & TELUS Ch. 980 // Tickets available here

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The Canadian Premier League’s historic 500th match kicks off on Friday at York Lions Stadium, as York United host Valour FC.

For a league that is just beginning its sixth season of action, the match will represent a monumental milestone in its young history — as well as a testament to how far the league has come in that time.

“Every time there is a milestone, and to be part of it, it always gives you a sense of gratefulness too, that there’s a league, a domestic league, that’s giving opportunities to Canadian players, Canadian coaches and more,” said Valour FC head coach Phil Dos Santos.

“When you reach milestones it’s just a reminder that time goes by fast too, but that we were all able to get here and to help this league grow,” he added. “So it’s always a pleasure to, one, be reminded of that because we tend to take things for granted very fast, and just be grateful for it. I think many more to come.”

The league’s 400th match, coincidentally, also featured York United taking on Valour FC — resulting in a 1-1 draw in Winnipeg on June 4, 2023. York’s Mo Babouli opened the scoring on that day, before Matteo de Brienne responded with a screamer for the hosts.

York, in particular, are no stranger to playing in milestone matches for the league. They lost 3-0 to FC Edmonton in the league’s 300th match on Canada Day 2022, and were, of course, also involved in the league’s inaugural match on April 27, 2019 at Tim Hortons Field.

This fixture has generally favoured the Winnipeg side over the past few seasons, as York has won just twice in the past eight meetings between the two teams, with Valour winning five of those meetings.

The Winnipeg side, however, are coming off a difficult trip to Ottawa which saw them eliminated from the Canadian Championship in a crushing 7-0 defeat to Atleti, before falling 2-0 to the same side in league action on the weekend. They are still in search of their first victory in 2024.

The road wasn’t kind to York United this past week either, however, as their first trip outside of Ontario in 2024 ended in a 2-0 defeat to Pacific FC. They were also eliminated from the Canadian Championship, 3-1 by rivals Forge.

Valour will be without goalkeeper Jonathan Viscosi on Friday, who is expected to miss a few weeks after suffering an injury against Atlético Ottawa. Raphael Ohin is making progress, but Valour want to pick the right moment to add him back into the lineup, while Roberto Alarćon is also available again.

The Nine Stripes, meanwhile, were missing a number of players as they travelled out west to Pacific this past weekend. Orlando Botello has returned to training for the Nine Stripes this week, but Juan Córdova is still out.

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

3 THINGS TO WATCH

• Can Valour pick up another big result at York Lions Stadium?: Valour FC won just three matches away from home in 2023. Two of those were at York Lions Stadiums, as they were victorious 2-0 on the opening day of the season and again 3-1 on September 8. A return to the venue, which holds a lot of positive memories, could be just what the ailing club needs as they search for their first victory of 2024. They have defeated York more than any other club in their history (eight wins all-time) and have never been held scoreless at York Lions Stadium. “There’s places where I just go to and I feel good, I feel that every time I go to Hamilton, there’s an energy, or a history that kind of makes it that it’s a place that Valour likes to play in, the same with York,” said Dos Santos. “But for me, that’s more in our heads than anything else, because two different teams, two different contexts it’s a brand new 90 minutes.”

• Mourdoukoutas makes his return to York Lions Stadium: There will be a few familiar faces for York United supporters emerging from the road dressing room on Friday night, including former Nine Stripes’ Noah Verhoeven and Jordan Faria. There is also a decent chance they see Tass Mourdoukoutas, as the Australian defender got his first minutes of the season off the bench against Atlético Ottawa this weekend. Mourdoukoutas played the fourth-most minutes of any York player last season, and became a fan favourite in the process. Whether or not he gets his first start of the campaign in his old stomping grounds, however, remains to be seen. Going into this decision, says Dos Santos, are two factors, evidently first and foremost the long-term health of a player that he considers critically important, and the continuity of the backline. That wasn’t something Dos Santos was able to find often last season with a number of defensive injuries, so expect him to be cautious when tinkering with his defensive unit in 2024. “Tass is a player that in normal circumstances will be in this team,” said Dos Santos. “We know his experience, we know his quality, we know what he brings to the table. So for us, it’s about integrating him in a way that is going to be safe for him and also assure longevity.”

• Can York get the most out of Mo Babouli: One continued area of concern for the Nine Stripes so far this season is the fact that their main offensive threat over the past few years, Mo Babouli, has been held off the score sheet so far in 2024. Over the past two seasons York United have only ever lost one match in which Babouli has scored (6-3-1 record), which shows how important it is that they get him going. It isn’t for lack of trying, as he leads the league in expected assists with 1.62. York have tried Babouli out in a few different positions this season, including as a wild midfielder in a 4-4-2 so that he can find more space. Perhaps, however, that has taken away his opportunities to get into dangerous positions himself, with just three touches in the opposition box so far this season. “I think we’ve got to get Mo the ball in better areas instead of him dropping deeper to get it,” said Nash after Saturday’s clash with Pacific FC.

PROJECTED STARTING XIs

York United: Vincensini; Ferrari, Abatneh, Sturing, Botello; Bayiha, Baldisimo, Soumaoro, Babouli; Ricci, Wright

Valour FC: Murasiranwa; Alarćon, Mourdoukoutas, Chantzopoulos, Antonoglou; Verhoeven, Campbell, Sánchez; Ressurreição, Faria, Swibel

ALL-TIME SERIES

York United wins: 6 || Valour FC wins: 8 || Draws: 2

Last meeting:

September 8, 2023 — York United 1-3 Valour FC 

KEY QUOTES

“If we don’t come with energy and urgency it’s going to be a long night. I know this team, they’re going to come and fight, Phil’s teams always put in an effort so I think we’ve just got to match them or beat their intensity and we should be in a good place.” — York United head coach Martin Nash

“[We need to] reset a little bit after the Ottawa trip, and not panic. But be very, very awake and alert to the situation and try to find a response. Because we feel that the roster has enough quality for us to display better, and compete better than we have. Especially in the last two games.” — Valour FC head coach Phillip Dos Santos