Canadian Premier League — Match #32
FC Edmonton vs. Forge FC
June 26, 2019 — Clarke Field (7 p.m. MT/9 p.m. ET)
Watch Live: OneSoccer.ca

It’s (still) do-or-die time for Forge FC, as they head out to Edmonton for their final game of the Spring season, a must-win in their bid to snatch the title from the hands of Cavalry FC.

The Hamilton outfit is riding high right now, having triumphed over the league-leading Cavs at Spruce Meadows on the weekend to extend their winning streak in league play to five. Forge is on 19 points, two back of the top, so they absolutely need all three points in this one to stand a chance of winning the CPL’s Spring championship. They’re also counting on their 905 Derby foes York9 FC to steal at least a point from Cavalry on Wednesday night.

FC Edmonton, perhaps more than any other week, presents some stiff competition for Forge. After a frustrating six-game winless streak (in CPL play) during which they failed to score even once, the deluge finally came on Sunday as Jeff Paulus’ side walked into Westhills Stadium and convincingly beat Pacific FC, 3-1. With the Fall season around the corner, the Eddies would like nothing more than to start building some momentum.

While this is it for Forge’s Spring season, they’re right back at it for the Fall calendar on Saturday, July 6, when they’ll play FC Edmonton again, this time at home (1:00 p.m. ET, on OneSoccer). The Eddies have one more Spring fixture, a home tilt with HFX Wanderers FC as part of the CPL’s Canada Day doubleheader next Monday (6:00 p.m. ET, 4:00 p.m. MT, on OneSoccer).

KEYS TO THE MATCH

• Size them up: Tomi Ameobi’s strike against Pacific was exactly the sort of goal the Eddies are expected to score. He used his considerable size advantage to fight off his defender, turn, and fire into the net. FCE’s lineup has more height and muscle than any other in the league, at both ends of the pitch, and so they need to continue to capitalize on their physical edge.
• Get Borges involved: Forge winger Tristan Borges lit up the CPL in the first month or so of the season, bagging four goals in May. Since then, however, he’s been fairly quiet, unable to make the same impact. He was limited to just 30 touches on Saturday against Cavalry, and he hasn’t had a shot since Forge’s June 4th Canadian Championship game. FC Edmonton is a team that can be burned out wide, so Forge needs Borges to tap into his early-season form.
• Tunnel vision: By the time Forge takes to the pitch on Wednesday, they should already know the result of Cavalry’s match, and thus whether or not the Spring season is still on the table. If the Cavs do fail to win, then the pressure is on Forge to claim all three points in Edmonton, so their margin for error will be paper-thin. If Cavalry does wrap up the title, then Bobby Smyrniotis will still need his side to focus on building momentum ahead of the Fall. In either case, Forge won’t have much time to clear their heads, but it’s crucial they do so lest they slip up in this run of good form.

PROJECTED LINEUPS

FC Edmonton: Connor James; Allan Zebie, Mélé Temguia, Amer Didic, Jeannot Esua; Bruno Zebie, James Marcelin, Ramon Soria, Marcus Velado-Tsegaye; Tomi Ameobi, Oumar Diouck

Forge FC: Triston Henry; Dominic Samuel, Daniel Krutzen, Bertrand Owundi, Kwame Awuah; Alexander Achinioti-Jonsson, Elimane Cisse, Kyle Bekker; Tristan Borges, Chris Nanco, David Choiniere

HEAD TO HEAD

May 29 – Forge FC 2-0 FC Edmonton

STATS LEADERS

Tristan Borges – 4 goals (Forge FC)
Oumar Diouck – 2 goals (FC Edmonton)

INJURIES

Jonathan Grant (Forge FC) – Doubtful
Anthony Novak (Forge FC) – Doubtful

INTERNATIONAL DUTY

Emery Welshman (Forge FC) – Gold Cup (Guyana)
Quillan Roberts (Forge FC) – Gold Cup (Guyana)

SUSPENSIONS

None

ACCUMULATION
(Players are suspended for one match 14 days after accumulating a 4th Yellow Card)

Dominic Samuel (Forge FC) – 4 – (will miss July 6th match vs FC Edmonton)

Kadell Thomas (Forge FC) – 3

REFEREES

Referee: Yusri Rudolf
AR: Stephanie Fortin & Jasmain Parr
4th Offical: David Gantar

FANTASY PREDICTOR
Download the Centre Circle app to play predictor ahead of each match. 

1. Will a player play 5 minutes or less?

Yes. With two matches on Wednesday that have Spring competition implications, it is a very plausible scenario to see either Bobby Smyrniotis or Tommy Wheeldon Jr. use a substitution late in the second half to kill time off.

2. Will a team’s duels won % be higher than their possession %?

Usually the answer should be no, but for a matchup such as York9 vs. Cavalry it would not be surprising to see York9 significantly behind in the possession category.

3. Which team will win more fouls?

You have to have possession of the ball in order to be fouled. It is a safe bet to pick the team you believe will have more possession in the match as the team that will also win more fouls.