2021 CPL regular season — Match #99
Atlético Ottawa vs. York United
October 24, 2021 at 2:00 pm ET
TD Place Stadium, Ottawa, Ontario
Watch Live: OneSoccer.ca & TELUS Ch. 980 // Tickets available here

In addition to its website and app, OneSoccer is now available on TELUS channel 980 and on Fubo TV. Call your local cable provider to ask for OneSoccer today.

The Canadian Premier League will be in the nation’s capital for the final time in 2021 on Sunday, as York United pay one last visit to Atlético Ottawa for this season in the ComeOn! Match of the Week.

For Jimmy Brennan’s Nine Stripes, everything is on the line in this final ONRoutico clash. As it stands, they’re fifth in the league table with four games (including Sunday’s) left to play. They entered the weekend one point back of fourth-place HFX Wanderers, who host Forge FC on Saturday, which means York will need a little help from another team at some point if they’re to pass HFX and claim the final playoff spot. Still, every game from here on out has pivotal importance for York, who will likely consider Sunday’s game in Ottawa a must-win contest if they’re to make the playoffs.

Two of York’s last three games are against Forge, and the third is against Pacific, so points against eliminated Ottawa are a must. York haven’t won for four consecutive matches, with a draw against FC Edmonton last Sunday following up a loss on the road to Cavalry the previous Thursday — a game they felt they could’ve had more from, especially with a man advantage for the whole second half.

“Every game’s a must win really, when you come toward the end of the season,” Brennan said on Friday. “They’re a funny side, you don’t know what you get with Ottawa. They’ve got some very, very good players, they’re talented… They’re difficult to play against, and you don’t know what team you’re getting on the day.”

Ottawa will take the pitch at TD Place for the final time in 2021 hoping to make this a perfect two-game final homestand after their 2-0 win over Valour FC on Tuesday. Mista’s teTam sits seventh in the CPL table (ahead of FC Edmonton on wins) with 26 games played. They have a 6-6-14 record, which they would quite like to turn into 8-6-14 to close out the season. Certainly, avoiding the Wooden Spoon and last place in the CPL will be a bit of a motivator for Ottawa — no team ever wants to finish bottom of the table — but regardless of results, Mista will be looking for some fight from his players as he keeps one eye on the off-season and deciding who might be part of the club’s core for next season.

Matches between these two sides have been incredibly tight this year, despite the disparity in points. In four meetings so far, they’ve settled for a draw three times, with York winning once. Last time out, they split the points from a 1-1 draw at York Lions Stadium, where Ottawa’s Malcolm Shaw scored from the penalty spot in the second half before Jordan Wilson equalized for York in the 92nd minute to preserve a crucial point.

Make your match picks prior to kickoff at canpl.ca/predictor for a chance to win prizes, including the grand prize of a trip to the 2021 CPL Final! To learn more about ComeOn!, click here.

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

3 THINGS TO WATCH:

• York need to start finishing: Over the last six games, York United have averaged 19.5 shots per match. Yet, they’ve won just one game in that stretch, with four draws and a loss to Cavalry, scoring seven goals from their 117 shots. In fact, over the entire 2021 season so far, York have averaged the most shots per game in the league with 9.83, and they also boast the highest expected goals total (34.36) in the CPL. So, the Nine Stripes have been one of the league’s most effective teams when it comes to generating high-quality chances (from open play as well as from set-pieces), but they haven’t been efficient with capitalizing on those chances. With a litany of excellent attacking options, from Julian Ulbricht to Max Ferrari to Michael Petrasso, York certainly can start filling the net — perhaps if some bounces start going their way. “You’ve got to earn your luck as well,” Brennan said on Friday. “I think our guys, they deserve it; you look at the last four matches and our stats, the way we’ve played, the chances we’ve created… it shows you we’re getting in those areas. We’re dynamic at times, want to get in behind and create those chances, but we’ve just got to be a little bit better at picking out those corners.”

• Ottawa hope to do TD Place faithful proud in final home game: It’s been a difficult season for Atlético Ottawa, but that hasn’t prevented their supporters from coming out in strong numbers at TD Place. This year has been their first chance to support the club in person after 2020’s truncated season at the Island Games, and fans in Ottawa have not disappointed. Head coach Mista already said before Tuesday night’s game that he wanted his team to put on a good show for the supporters that have stuck by them — which they did in that game, beating Valour FC 2-0 with a couple of electrifying goals by Malcolm Shaw and Ryan Telfer. Now, the importance is on repeating that kind of effort: although Ottawa are eliminated from playoff contention, they’d love to play spoiler and treat their home supporters to one last victory to end the year.

• Suspensions leave both sides shorthanded: Neither side will be quite at full strength this weekend. York will head to Ottawa short three suspended players: Isaiah Johnston, serving the second of a two-game suspension, plus Diyaeddine Abzi and Jordan Wilson sitting for the first of their two-game bans due to yellow card accumulation. Atlético, meanwhile, will be without veteran leader Drew Beckie for the second straight game. Ottawa have experience being without Beckie this year, of course, with his lengthy injury layoff in the middle of the season, but nonetheless the absence will hurt. For York, losing Abzi for two games at a critical part of the season is a blow; Abzi leads the team in minutes played this year (in fact, he’s third in the entire CPL), and he’s been a huge piece of their wide attack. Wilson, meanwhile, has been an important versatile piece, slotting in both as a centre-back and a midfielder at various times — and he’s third on the team in minutes. Both players might actually benefit from a little rest, but they would certainly much rather be out on the pitch in these massive fixtures. “It’s an opportunity for somebody else to step up and make sure they carry the load that those other boys have been carrying,” Brennan said. “They have to continue the commitment, the work rate and ethic that we’ve had.”

ALL-TIME SERIES

York United wins: 1 || Atlético Ottawa wins: 0 || Draws: 4

Previous match:

Oct. 8, 2021 — York United 1-1 Atlético Ottawa