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PREVIEW: Valour FC vs. Cavalry FC — 2022 Match #70
2022-08-02
by
Benedict Rhodes, CanPL.ca Contributor (@BTFR17)

2022 CPL Regular Season — Match #70
Valour FC vs. Cavalry FC
August 3, 2022 at 7 pm CT/6 pm MT
IG Field in Winnipeg, Manitoba
Watch Live: OneSoccer.ca & TELUS Ch. 980 // Tickets available here

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Week 18 of the 2022 Canadian Premier League season begins in Winnipeg on Wednesday night, as Valour FC host Cavalry FC at IG Field.

The home side are coming off a difficult 2-1 home defeat to Pacific FC, in which they let slip a match that they dominated for the first 60 minutes. Matteo de Brienne had Valour up 1-0 after scoring a first half header, and they would that lead until well into the second half. In the first 45 minutes in particular, the reigning champions were nearly invisible as Valour walked all over them, but a red card just after the hour mark changed everything.

Daniel Ascanio, who has been showing signs of promise in his first few games with the club, was shown a second yellow card for an alleged dive in the penalty area, and the momentum immediately shifted in Pacific’s favour. They scored twice in two minutes not long after, both one-touch finishes from Golden Boot leader Alejandro Diaz, including a perfect glancing header from a Marco Bustos cross to tie it up at 1-1.

Valour were frustrated after the match, and head coach Phillip Dos Santos made it clear after the match that he thought his side were the much better team on the night, but they came away with nothing to show for it.

Cavalry, meanwhile, snapped their worst-ever losing streak on Saturday with an AL Classico victory over FC Edmonton. They had lost three matches in a row for the first time ever going into that game, with defeats at home to York United and Forge FC and a road loss to Pacific FC, but beat their provincial rivals 2-0 to get back in the win column.

Joe Mason opened the scoring for Cavalry, as he did midweek against Forge, and Karifa Yao added a second for the home side just before halftime with a header from a set piece. Marco Carducci made a handful of saves as he picked up another clean sheet, and Cavalry picked up a fairly comfortable 2-0 win.

The Calgarians now head to Winnipeg looking to make it two in a row, while the home side will be desperate to avoid a third consecutive defeat. Still within a reasonable number of points from a playoff spot, nine back with a large portion of the season remaining, Valour have a chance to pull within six points ahead of three matches against the teams below them in the table.

This is, however, a matchup that has historically been dominated by Cavalry. The two sides have met 12 times in CPL action, and the Cavs have won eight of those matches. Three have been drawn, with Valour winning just once — in Calgary in their second-last match of the 2021 season.

Cavalry has won both meetings this season, including a 4-2 victory in Winnipeg the last time these teams played each other in June.

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 2022 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

  • Mason rounding into form as Cavalry officially sell Pepple: The worst-kept secret in Canadian soccer was finally announced on Tuesday, as it was revealed that Cavalry striker (and leading goalscorer) Aribim Pepple has been transferred to EFL Championship side Luton Town for an undisclosed fee. Losing the 19-year-old is a blow for the Cavs, but their depth is incredible, and they still have several strong options at striker when everyone is healthy. Had Joe Mason and Myer Bevan been healthy all season, Pepple may not have even had as many options as he did, but he certainly made the most of them, and has earned himself a move to a team that was within touching distance of promotion to the Premier League a season ago. “For us it shows that what we’re doing towards making a competitive team and developing young Canadian players, we’re ticking the right boxes,” said Cavalry head coach Tommy Wheeldon Jr. “It’s creating more and more opportunities where there wasn’t any. We’re happy, he’s done well for us and now it’s time to bring through the next batch” The return and promising form of Joe Mason has also come at the perfect time, with the English striker scoring in back-to-back matches. Mason, one of the best forwards in the league when he’s fit and firing on all cylinders, is now up to five on the season in eleven matches, one back of what Pepple managed to score in just seven matches. If can stay healthy and continue to make the most of the chances he creates, Cavalry will be just fine.
  • Valour eager to bounce back after Saturday’s defeat: After a pair of goals from Alejandro Diaz came just two minutes apart on Saturday at IG Field, totally derailing a strong 70-minute performance from the home team, Valour were understandably frustrated with their performance. Going toe-to-toe with the reigning champions, and for most of the match looking significantly better than them, is still promising, but failing to capitalise on it and continuing to inch closer to the playoffs is a huge opportunity missed. After the way that match ended, the players and team have reacted well and are eager to bounce back according to their head coach Phillip Dos Santos. “They all felt that the team played one of their best 60 minutes of this season,” he told CanPL.ca. “We can’t let that bring us down, we can’t let circumstances like that jeopardise that we were the best team throughout the game. Even when we went down 2-1 we had our breaks and our chances, and we were still on the front foot. We can’t get too down, we have to make sure that we focus on the next one.”
  • Taking advantage of home crowd ‘crucial’ for Valour: Valour FC play seven of their next nine matches at IG Field, and if they’re going to have any chance at challenging the current top four, they’re going to need to take advantage of it. “It’s not only important right now, it’s crucial,” Dos Santos said to CanPL.ca on Tuesday. “It’s fundamental, it’s a must. We need to find a way.” Interestingly, playing at home hasn’t actually been much of an advantage for CPL clubs in 2022. CanPL.ca’s Kristian Jack had a statistic on Tuesday’s episode of the CanPL Newsroom podcast that through 69 matches this season, there have been 17 draws, 26 wins by home teams and 26 wins by away teams — a remarkable, and unexpected, situation. The theory, and expectation, is that teams in any league play better when they’re at home — Cavalry are a fine example of that, having only lost a handful of times at home since they first stepped onto the pitch at Spruce Meadows in 2019 — but in the CPL every team is capable of beating each other. Regardless of what the stats say, playing in front of your own supporters can be a huge boost, and Valour will be needing any boost they can get from The Trench and the passionate fans at IG Field.

ALL-TIME SERIES

Valour FC wins: 1 || Cavalry FC wins: 8 || Draws: 3

Previous match:

June 15, 2022 – Valour FC 2-4 Cavalry FC

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