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PREVIEW: Forge FC vs. Cavalry FC – Match #63

Canadian Premier League — Match #62
Forge FC vs. Cavalry FC
August 25, 2019 — Tim Hortons Field (3:30 p.m. ET)
Watch Live: OneSoccer.ca

Whenever these two sides meet, it’s one of the most heavily-anticipated fixtures on the CPL calendar. Forge FC will host Cavalry FC this weekend as the clubs at the top of the league table butt heads with first place on the line.

Cavalry leads the pack right now, sitting atop the standings with 15 points. They’re undefeated in Fall competition, with four wins and three draws, although they went through a slight rough patch in August. The Cavs drew three straight games, failing to score in two of them, before they picked apart York9 FC for a 3-1 win last Wednesday to resume business as usual.

Returning to Tim Hortons Field for their first CPL home game in a month, Forge also enters on a high. On Thursday they shut out Honduran side CD Olimpia to take a 1-0 aggregate lead in their CONCACAF League tie. They’re also in good form in the league, sitting just two points behind Cavalry with four wins in their last five games.

The winner of this clash will take sole ownership of first place (for the time being) in the incredibly tight Fall season standings.

Forge’s next contest is the return leg of their CONCACAF League series on Thursday, for which they’ll travel to Honduras and try to advance to the quarter-finals (10:00 p.m. ET, available on TSN 2). They return to CPL action the following Wednesday, September 4, as they travel to the west coast to play Pacific FC (10:00 p.m. ET, 7:00 p.m. PT, on OneSoccer). Cavalry’s next opponent will also be Pacific, for a clash at Spruce Meadows on August 28 (9:00 p.m. ET, 7:00 MT, on OneSoccer).

KEYS TO THE MATCH

  • Bad blood: It’s only natural that two heavyweight teams would have a fair amount of animosity between them, with so much on the line every time they meet. This particular matchup has been blossoming into a tasty rivalry, ever since they met for an extremely heated CanChamp tie. Forge also handed Cavalry their first-ever loss, beating them at Spruce Meadows in June to keep the Spring title race alive. These teams don’t like each other, and that’s unlikely to change soon.
  • Red-hot attack: After two scoreless outings, the Cavs’ offence lit up in a major way on Wednesday against York9. They put three on the scoreboard, but they easily could’ve had five or six, with a couple goals called back for offside and a few golden chances failing to find the twine. Forge’s backline has been very solid recently, but they’ll need to be on their toes against Dominique Malonga, Nico Pasquotti, and the rest of Cavalry’s barrage.
  • Possession battle: Cavalry has always been a team that likes to control the ball and dictate the pace of play. Forge, as they’ve started to settle into a system, is also increasingly becoming a side that wants to play on the front foot and build up attacks through midfield. So, the central battles between Kyle Bekker and Nik Ledgerwood could be critical as the anchors of Forge and Cavalry’s lineups. It’s unlikely that either side will take over and dominate, but whichever can find longer periods of dangerous possession should come out on top.

PROJECTED LINEUPS

Forge FC: Triston Henry; Kwame Awuah, Bertrand Owundi, Daniel Krutzen, Jonathan Grant; Alexander Achinioti-Jonsson, Kyle Bekker, Elimane Cisse; Marcel Zajac, Anthony Novak, Tristan Borges

Cavalry FC: Marco Carducci; Nathan Mavila, Dominick Zator, Mason Trafford, Malyk Hamilton; Nik Ledgerwood, Julian Buscher, Elijah Adekugbe; Nico Pasquotti, Dominique Malonga, Sergio Camargo


HEAD TO HEAD

May 12 – Forge FC 1-2 Cavalry FC
June 4 – Forge FC 1-1 Cavalry FC (CanChamp)
June 11 – Cavalry FC 2-1 Forge FC (CanChamp)
June 22 – Cavalry FC 0-1 Forge FC

STATS LEADERS

Tristan Borges – 7 goals (Forge FC)
Dominique Malonga – 6 goals (Cavalry FC)

INJURIES

Chris Serban (Cavalry FC) – Out (Knee)
Dean Northover (Cavalry FC) – Out (ACL)
Jordan Brown (Cavalry FC) – Doubtful

INTERNATIONAL DUTY

None

SUSPENSIONS

Jonathan Wheeldon (Cavalry FC)

ACCUMULATION

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

Giuliano Frano (Forge FC) – 3
Elijah Adekugbe (Cavalry FC) – 4

Joel Waterman (Cavalry FC) – 3

REFEREES

Referee: David Barrie
ARs: Lyes Arfa & Peter Pendli
4th Offical: Filip Dujic

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