2024 CPL Regular Season — Match #68
Forge FC vs. Atlético Ottawa
August 10, 2024 at 7 p.m. ET
Tim Hortons Field in Hamilton, Ontario
Watch Live: OneSoccer.ca & TELUS Ch. 980 // Tickets available here

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Saturday’s evening affair in Hamilton features a clash between two title contenders in the Canadian Premier League, as Forge FC host current leaders Atlético Ottawa in a contest that could define or shake up the regular season race.

Forge, looking up the table toward Ottawa from third place, still find themselves just four points off the top with 25 in total after 16 games. Forge have a 7-4-5 record, but they come into Saturday looking to shake off last Sunday’s defeat in Winnipeg to Valour FC. Although the Hammers recovered from an early deficit in that game with Tristan Borges’ well-taken equalizer, they conceded again shortly after and left Manitoba with no points.

Still, beating Forge on home turf would be a different proposition entirely. They’ve lost just one league match at Tim Hortons Field this year, with a 6-1-1 record. Last time they played in Hamilton, they beat Halifax Wanderers FC 3-0 thanks to a Kwasi Poku brace.

The challengers to that record on Saturday will be Atlético Ottawa, who have been sitting in first place since matchweek four. With a record of 8-5-4, they’re one point up on second-place York United FC.

Things haven’t been so rosy in recent weeks for Ottawa, though. In fact, they’re winless in their last three games, losing two in a row to York United and Cavalry FC. Their most recent win was a 3-0 result over Vancouver FC almost a month ago on July 12.

One of Atleti’s more recent triumphs, though, was a 4-3 win over Forge in late June. That was arguably the most entertaining match of the CPL season so far, with a second-half goalfest producing a 4-3 win for Ottawa, as Liberman Torres scored a 93rd-minute headed winner, making up for his giveaway to concede an equalizer just moments prior.

Historically, Forge have had the edge of Atleti with 11 wins in 18 meetings, but they’ve lost their last three against the capital club, including twice this season and once in the last game of the 2023 regular season (the sides’ most recent meeting in Hamilton).

Most of each club’s familiar faces should be available on Saturday, with Forge’s most significant injury concern still Béni Badibanga. Terran Campbell, who hasn’t played since the third game of the season, is back and eligible for selection. Ottawa likewise have a fairly clean bill of health; they’ll also get Manny Aparicio back from suspension this week. They may even be further reinforced by the arrival of Ilias Iliadis on loan from CF Montréal, as the midfielder is expected to be part of the matchday squad in Hamilton.

With the race so tight at the top of the table, there’s no doubt this will be an intense one. Saturday’s game could be a pivot point in this year’s regular season title race; which side will be up to the challenge?

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

3 THINGS TO WATCH

• Ampomah settling in with Badibanga out: Though it’s undeniably a blow for Forge to be without star winger Béni Badibanga, the three games he’s been out have opened the door for his former Waasland-Beveren roommate, Nana Ampomah, to properly introduce himself to the CPL. Ampomah has started all three matches in Badibanga’s place on the wing, and he’s done well there, scoring against Halifax and otherwise looking dangerous in attack. The two players each offer something slightly different, so when Badibanga returns it’ll be a luxury for Bobby Smyrniotis to have both options to deploy depending on the match situation. Smyrniotis will have a challenge deciding which player to start — if not finding a place for both of them — but for now, with Badibanga seemingly still out, Ampomah looks set to play another major role in Saturday’s match against Ottawa.

• Atleti looking to regain momentum from tough test: The league leaders have certainly stumbled a little in the past few weeks, particularly in a heavy 4-1 away defeat to York and last weekend’s loss to an 89th-minute Cavalry winner. The latter match was a concern because Ottawa will be wary of letting any of last year’s trends sneak back into their current play; they missed the playoffs in 2023 largely because of how many points they surrendered to last-minute goals. The most crucial focus for them this week will likely be ensuring that they hold their composure in the final 15 minutes of the match. Fortunately, last time out against Forge they came out on the better side of some late drama, even recovering from a last-minute equalizer to score a last-minute winner.

• Chaos always on the cards in this fixture: When these sides have met recently, there’s really no way of knowing how it could turn out. It could be like that last 4-3 spectacle — or, for that matter, like the similarly wild 4-3 Forge win in June 2023. It could be lopsided, like Ottawa’s 3-0 win this year or Forge’s 4-0 win in 2022. A few of their meetings have turned into tight, low-scoring affairs as well, with even a 0-0 draw in both of the last two seasons. Both of these teams seem to have several different versions of themselves, and it’s hard to tell which might show up against the other. Sometimes one side sets a tone and invites the other into a high-scoring affair, and sometimes not. Typically, it’s easy to tell within the first half what kind of matchup this is going to be, although a few meetings have only taken on their chaotic tone in the second half. With so much on the line for both sides in the table this week, expect a particularly fascinating contest.

PROJECTED STARTING XIs

Forge FC: Kalongo; Duncan, Achinioti-Jönsson, Metusala, Parra; Hojabrpour, Bekker; Choinière, Borges, Ampomah; Poku

Atlético Ottawa: Ingham; Twardek, Didic, Singh, De Brienne; Sissoko, Aparicio, Zapater, Bassett, Tabla; Del Campo

ALL-TIME SERIES

Forge FC wins: 11 || Atlético Ottawa wins: 4 || Draws: 3

Last meeting:

June 29, 2024 — Atlético Ottawa 4-3 Forge FC

KEY QUOTES

“This is one of those games where I think transitions will be important, it’s something Ottawa uses in their game. We need to make sure that we’re up for it, and there’s two ways to do that; one is being very good on the ball in the attacking third of the pitch, and if not, we need to be a very compact group and make it very difficult for Ottawa and then create space behind them, which they showed difficulties with this year.” — Forge FC head coach Bobby Smyrniotis

“Nothing has changed to much, so what we have to do is try to be our best version again. I feel the team has talent enough and tools to perform better. But this is important also; these moments of adversity are important in the season. I always think that it’s better earlier than further in the season, so we still have time, and we still are in a privileged position to bounce from it and solve the small problems we’re having.” — Atlético Ottawa head coach Carlos González