2024 CPL Regular Season — Match #57
Atlético Ottawa vs. Valour FC
July 21, 2024 at 2 p.m. ET / 1 p.m. CT
TD Place in Ottawa, Ontario
Watch Live: OneSoccer.ca & TELUS Ch. 980 // Tickets available here

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Top of the table Atlético Ottawa begin the second half of their 2024 Canadian Premier League campaign looking, in many ways to replicate what they were able to do through the first 14 matches of the season.

But one area where they will quickly be looking to improve as they host Valour FC on Sunday at TD Place Stadium, is their form on that very pitch. Atlético Ottawa have won just one of their last four matches at home, and were shutout 1-0 by Pacific FC last time out in the nation’s capital.

“If we want to be a team that aspires to big things, we have to make our home a fortress,” said Atlético Ottawa head coach Carlos González. “So it’s not a good record to only win one game in the last four. So what we have to do is show our best level, forget a little bit about the opponent, and think more on us and ourselves.”

Their opponents on Sunday, Valour FC, come to the nation’s capital for the third time this season in all competitions after a short turnaround following a 3-1 loss to the Halifax Wanderers on Thursday night in Halifax. Despite taking an early lead in that match through Shaan Hundal, Valour proceeded to allow three goals, and concede three penalties in their tenth loss of the season.

They have now conceded seven penalties this season, the most in the league. Atleti, meanwhile, with Cavalry being the other, is one of two teams who have yet to concede a penalty this season.

Holding leads have also been an issue this season for the Winnipeg club, as they have now dropped more points from winning positions (11) than they have collected (10) in 2024.

The last time these two sides met was in Winnipeg on June 9, a game where an Ollie Bassett penalty kick and a late goal from Sam Salter gave Atleti a 2-0 victory. That win gave Atleti the lead in the all-time series against Valour, and was their fifth win in the last six matches between the two sides, including winning all three meetings in 2024 in all competitions by a combined score of 11-0.

Atlético Ottawa remain the only club that Valour have not scored against this season, showing that they are capable in front of goal, but they have an inverse scoring record to the league leaders, with 13 goals for and a league-high 26 against. Atleti, meanwhile, have scored a league-leading 26 times and conceded just 13.

After serving a one-match ban for yellow card accumulation, Dante Campbell is once again available for Valour FC. However, the Winnipeg club will be without fellow midfielder Noah Verhoeven as he now serves a suspension after picking up his fifth yellow card of the season on Thursday against Halifax, while fullback Roberto Alarcón remains sidelined after being sent off against Cavalry FC earlier this month.

For Atlético Ottawa, they will be without fullback Matteo de Brienne for the match, as the 22-year-old has also picked up his fifth yellow card of the season.

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

3 THINGS TO WATCH

• Questions at fullback for both teams: Both sides will be missing starting fullbacks for Sunday’s game, and how they approach it will be an intriguing part of how the game plays out. With right back Roberto Alarcón suspended for Valour, they elected to play Frank Facchineri there on Thursday in Halifax. It did not necessarily go to plan, with Facchineri giving away a penalty kick in the first half. Zachary Sukunda eventually stepped into the role, and could play there on Sunday as well. Dante Campbell will also now be an option having played right back for Valour in the past, but with the team thin in midfield Dos Santos will have a tough decision to make as to where to deploy him. For Atleti, meanwhile, they are without left back Matteo de Brienne through suspension. The 22-year-old has appeared in all 14 matches so far this season for Atleti, so they will have to decide how best to cover that left flank without him available.  “We’ve been trying a couple of different solutions for this game, and we have a couple of good ones, so we will decide [on Saturday] which one is the best one that suits the game,” said González.

• Will Ollie Bassett continue dominance against Valour?: Since he came to the Canadian Premier League, there is no club that Ollie Bassett has been more lethal against than Valour. In 13 matches against the Winnipeg club, he has scored seven times, and to make things even sweeter for him his team has gone on to win nine times. Bassett already has three goals against Valour in 2024 alone, two of which came in the Canadian championship. After a strong performance against Vancouver FC this past Friday, during which he was central creatively for the Atleti attack, creating three chances and playing 25 passes in the final third, Bassett will again be an important player for Valour to watch on Sunday.

• Valour FC’s Kwemi, Mlah looking like quality new options for the Winnipeg club: So far, Valour supporters have just seen a brief glimpse of the club’s two newest signings, former CS St-Laurent duo Safwane Mlah and Loïc Kwemi. The latter has made two appearances off the bench, while Mlah played his first 31 minutes for the club on Thursday against the Halifax Wanderers. Both first impressions, however, have been positive. Kwemi has already created two very good scoring chances in his two appearances, and it feels like only a matter of time before he scores his first professional goal. Mlah, meanwhile, looks tidy on the ball and like he will add a new element to the Valour midfield. With the team coming in on short rest to Sunday’s match, Kwemi and Mlah will undoubtedly be candidates for further minutes against Atlético Ottawa.

PROJECTED STARTING XIs

Atlético Ottawa: Ingham; Morer, Didić, Singh, Twardek; Bassett, Zapater, Aparicio, Antinoro; Tabla, del Campo

Valour FC: Viscosi; Sukunda, Mourdoukoutas, Chantzopoulos, Antonoglou; Campbell, Ohin; Binate, Ressurreição, Hundal; Swibel

ALL-TIME SERIES

Atlético Ottawa wins: 7 || Valour FC wins: 6 || Draws: 3

Last meeting:

June 9, 2024 — Valour FC 0-2 Atlético Ottawa

KEY QUOTES

“I think that it’s so mental. You know, sometimes if you have more than 72 hours to recover, scientifically, you are prepared to play the next game, so they will have it. And sometimes teams need after a defeat an early game, so I don’t think that’s a bad thing for them.” — Atlético Ottawa head coach Carlos González

“It’s a team that if you make mistakes, they punish you. That’s as simple as it is. They have quality, they’re a very mature team, a team that have the ability where, you can’t go with one game plan, you need to know that they will have the ability to find solutions. So we need to make sure that we cover the spaces well, we need to make sure that we stay together.” — Valour FC head coach Phillip Dos Santos