2024 CPL Regular Season — Match #84
Vancouver FC vs. York United
September 6, 2024 at 7:00 p.m. PT/10:00 p.m. ET
Willoughby Community Park in Langley, British Columbia
Watch Live: OneSoccer.ca & TELUS Ch. 980 // Tickets available here

The final quarter of the Canadian Premier League regular season kicks off this weekend, starting with a clash between Vancouver FC and York United at Willoughby Community Park on Friday.

A battle of fourth and fifth in the CPL table, it promises to be a key game for both teams, too, given what’s at stake for them right now.

With just seven games remaining in each teams respective schedules, it’ll be big goal for both sides to finish the year strong, as both remain in the hunt not just to host a playoff game, but to still win the CPL Shield.

Given that York is now six points behind first place, and Vancouver 12 points, they’ll want to pick up as many points as possible over the last seven games, especially in six-point matches, giving them a chance at finishing first by the end of the season.

Because of that, it’s safe to say that every game across this stretch will be treated as a playoff game by those involved, and rightfully so.

For Vancouver, they continue to feel that while they’re happy to remain in a playoff spot, sitting five points ahead of sixth-place Valour heading into this weekend, they’re not satisfied with where they are in the table, either.

Even though they’re in just their second year of existence, they feel they’ve got the pieces to finish in the top four and host a playoff game at the very least, but it’ll be up to them to prove that, starting with this game.

On their day this year, Vancouver’s been a tough team to beat, as those across the league know, but they continue to hunt for more consistency, and no better time for them find it than over their last seven games.

“It’s important to share with our fans that when you start a competition, you don’t set your goal to be happy to be fifth in an 8-team competition,” Vancouver head coach, Afshin Ghotbi, said this week. “You you try to set the bar as high as possible, you even try to set the bar higher than your grasp, and then you work towards that every day to try to improve the group and challenge the group that you’re working with. We are not satisfied with the fact that we are in this position, because I have higher expectations on myself, my players and our team.”

As for York, they’re looking to get back to winning ways after picking up just one win in their last five games, having had a stretch of five wins in their previous seven games before that. They haven’t necessarily struggled across this recent five game stretch, in which they’ve amassed a record of 1W-2D-2L (5 PTS), but it’s still felt like a dip in form given how consistent those at the top have been as of late.

Given that York were on top of the table just weeks ago, they’ll want to put this dip behind them and return to that perch, one they feel they’re deserving to reach.

If they’re to remain in the title race, however, it’ll be imperative that they string together some wins over the next few games, especially if the rest of the top four continues to win games, so look for them to come out firing in this game.

“We need to continue working on our style, and to keep demanding the best from from the players,” York head coach, Benjamín Mora, said this week. “I believe in them, and I’ve believed in them from the first minute that I got here, so that won’t stop. These seven games will be a war for us, there are 21 points (on the line), and we’re going to try to reach as many of those points as we can.”

In terms of player availability, Vancouver will be without Renan Garcia due to suspension, and the trio of Mikaël Cantave, Gabriel Bitar and Grady McDonnell due to international duty, although James Cameron is set to return from a suspension. Meanwhile York will be without Frank Sturing and Brian Wright due to injuries and Matthew Baldisimo due to international duty, although they’re set to welcome back Elijah Adekugbe from a yellow-card accumulation suspension and Dennis Salanović from an injury.

All CPL and Canadian Championship matches will be broadcast live on OneSoccer, available as a linear channel on Telus’ Optik TV (Channel 980) as well as online at OneSoccer.ca, through the OneSoccer app and on the fuboTV Canada platform.

3 THINGS TO WATCH

• Vancouver looking to re-find home form against road warriors York: After two games on the road, Vancouver are back home for this game, where they’ve got one thing on their mind – getting a win in front of their fans, as they look to make the most of the first of three home games remaining on their schedule. Sitting sixth in the CPL with 15 points from 11 home games, they want to finish on a high note at home, having struggled to pick up home wins as of late. After winning three of their first four home games in 2024, they’ve only won one of their next seven matches, missing out on some key opportunities to climb up the table. Now, however, they’ll look to put that behind them, and try to finish off on a high note, as doing so could lead to more home matches in the playoffs. If they’re to do that, however, it’s worth noting that they’ll have to take care of business against a York side that has proven to be a tough opponent away from home, sitting third in the CPL with 12 points from 11 road games. Especially given that York missed out on a key opportunity to make that 14 points in their last visit to Langley back in July, where they conceded a late equalizer, they’ll be extra hungry to ensure they leave with all three points this time around, so that’s something to note.

• Strong start a must for Vancouver: Overall, Vancouver will have lots to be pleased about in their last performance, a 1-0 loss away to Atlético Ottawa. Despite that, they were unable to get any points out of that game, and their start to the game was a big reason for that, as they conceded a goal just two minutes into the match. Because of that, look for them to want to start the game strongly, as that can often be key to success in these six-point games. At this stage of the season, where teams are well-drilled and used to playing each other, it can be harder to find key margins that can break a match open, giving an edge to those who can start the game well. For what it’s worth, Vancouver have proven that they don’t mind having to play from behind, but it can be tough to have to consistently do so in games. At the same time, Vancouver have also shown they can start games well, as they recently did in a win over Valour, so they remain confident that they can come out flying in this game. Given that they’ve conceded the first goal in all three of their meetings against York this year, that’ll certainly be a big point of emphasis heading into this one. “I think teams that score the first goal are able to dictate the tempo,” Ghotbi siad. “They’re able to sit back, wait for the opponent to open up, so I think the first goal is very crucial. We’ve been actually a good team chasing again a game, but I want us to have our opponents chase us.”

• York looking to get defence back on track: After a nine-game stretch where they conceded one goal or fewer in each game, York’s slipped up a bit defensively in their last three games, conceding two goals twice, doing so in losses to Cavalry and Halifax. As their offence has also gone a bit quiet, having scored just four goals in their last five games, that’s led to them losing a bit of form as mentioned above. Yet, while they’ll certainly be looking for their attack to come alive, they’ll feel the big key for them to re-find form will be to tighten things up defensively. There’s no doubt that this team can find the back of the net, as they sit third in the league in goals for on the season, but they know they can still take another step defensively, sitting fifth in the CPL in goals against. They’ve done a good job of pushing up the charts thanks to that nine-game run where they conceded less than a goal per game on average, so look for them to return to that sort of form over the last seven games, as that could be huge for them in the title race. As the saying goes, defence wins championships, and York’s seen that first-hand with their summer surge, one they’ll hope they can now extend into the fall. “We need to be sharper,” Mora said. “We need to be cleaner if we want to maintain our good run that we were having, and come back to to being the the strong team that we showed (we can be).”

PROJECTED STARTING XIs

Vancouver FC: Irving; Chung, Romeo, Enyou, Cameron; Rommens, Fry; Bah, Sellouf, Fisk; Díaz

York United: Vincensini; Ferrari, Abatneh, Higgins, León, Botello; Martínez, Adekugbe, Córdova; Ricci, Babouli

ALL-TIME SERIES

Vancouver FC wins: 1 || York United wins: 5 || Draws: 2

Last meeting:

July 20, 2024 — Vancouver FC 1-1 York United

KEY QUOTES

“This next phase of competition is the last round, we play every team once (more), we want to be the best version of our squad and we want to get the results necessary to put ourselves in the best position possible, and to host a playoff game, as I think that would make a big difference in giving ourselves the chance to make it to the championship. All of these games coming up in the last phase are six pointers. We’re showing the bite that I’m looking for, we’re showing the fight that I’m looking for, we’re showing the spirit that I’m looking for, we have to just focus a little bit on some of the details on the defensive side and on the attacking side to get the results going our way, too.” — Vancouver FC head coach Afshin Ghotbi

“The demands are high, the expectations are high, because we set this standard and we put the bar very high when we reached  first place in the table, but then everyone expects that to continue every week, this is football, sometimes that’s not possible. The probability (of you doing so) only comes when you continue working in the same way, and the message is the same, players are committed 100%. Looking at a small detail, but not one that’s small for me, but our GPS numbers have been amazing, we’re breaking records in our high-speed running, we’re breaking records in the distances achieved, we’re breaking records in the sprints, and that tells me that t(our players) want to do things to show me that they are committed.” — York United head coach Benjamín Mora