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PREVIEW: Valour FC vs. York9 FC – Match #33

Canadian Premier League — Match #33
Valour FC vs. York9 FC
July 1, 2019 — IG Field (12 p.m. CT/1 p.m. ET)
Watch Live: OneSoccer.ca

Kicking off the CPL’s Canada Day triple-header is this battle for position between Valour FC and York9 FC. In the finale to the Spring competition, both sides will be hoping to finish strong as they prepare to dive right into the Fall season.

Valour, with three wins and six losses in the Spring, is currently struggling amid a five-game losing streak across all competitions. Most recently, they fell 2-0 on the road to HFX Wanderers FC in another frustrating outing for Rob Gale’s side. Still, they’ve got a chance to finish as high as third in the standings, with just two points separating them from the Wanderers and FC Edmonton.

Jimmy Brennan’s York9 FC is also in a bit of a rut at the moment, having gone winless in three straight. The squad lost 2-0 to Cavalry FC midweek, which followed a pair of consecutive 0-0 draws at home. The Nine Stripes have been at home for four straight league games, and now they head out on the road to visit Valour for the first time.

This game caps off the Spring season for both sides, but each will return to action soon in the Fall. York9 stays on the road, paying a visit to HFX Wanderers on July 6 (3:30 p.m. ET, 4:30 p.m. AT, on OneSoccer). Meanwhile, Valour has a bit of a break after this game, with their Fall campaign not beginning until July 17, when they visit FC Edmonton (9:00 p.m. ET, 7:00 p.m. MT, on OneSoccer).

KEYS TO THE MATCH

  • Break the drought: Both these sides have had a rough go of late, struggling especially to put the ball in the net. Valour was just shut out by HFX, and York9 hasn’t scored in three straight. That’s not to say that these clubs are short on attacking talent, though; they just need to get players like Marco Bustos and Calum Ferguson (in Valour’s case) or Rodrigo Gattas and Ryan Telfer (for York9) to start finishing.
  • Battle for the middle: This game will feature two of the best defensive central midfielders in the CPL, in Valour’s Louis Beland-Goyette and York9’s Joe Di Chiara. Both hard-nosed, physical players, they could be butting heads all afternoon. The game’s result may well hinge on which of them triumphs in that particular duel.
  • Spread out: York9 has played its last four games in the narrow confines of York Lions Stadium, where there’s hardly any room to stretch the game out horizontally. At IG Field, though, there’s much more space for wide players like Kyle Porter or Emilio Estevez to operate. Adapting to the larger pitch after getting used to a narrow one will be a key challenge for Brennan’s squad.

PROJECTED LINEUPS

Valour FC: Tyson Farago; Martin Arguinarena, Jordan Murrell, Skylar Thomas, Raphael Garcia; Raphael Ohin, Louis Beland-Goyette; Tyler Attardo, Marco Bustos, Dylan Carreiro; Calum Ferguson

York9 FC: Nathan Ingham; Diyaedinne Abzi, Luca Gasparotto, Daniel Gogarty, Morey Doner; Kyle Porter, Joe Di Chiara, Manuel Aparicio, Ryan Telfer; Emilio Estevez, Rodrigo Gattas


HEAD TO HEAD

First meeting between these clubs. 

STATS LEADERS

Rodrigo Gattas – 2 goals (York9 FC)
Stephen Hoyle, Dylan Carreiro, Michael Petrasso, Calum Ferguson, Ali Musse, Marco Bustos, Tyler Attardo (Valour FC) – 1 goal

INJURIES

Josip Golubar (Valour FC) – Out (ACL)
Michael Petrasso (Valour FC) – Doubtful
Stephen Hoyle (Valour FC) – Questionable

INTERNATIONAL DUTY

None

SUSPENSIONS

None

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

Louis Béland-Goyette (Valour FC) – 4 – (will miss July 17th match vs FC Edmonton)

REFEREES

Referee: Yusri Rudolf
ARs: Peter Manastyrsky, Graham Forsyth
4th Official: Nicolas Joubert


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

Q: Which team will have more total passes?

A: Usually home teams tend to dictate possession and end up putting together more passes. However for a club such as Cavalry who tends to dictate possession even when playing on the road, they may be the one outlier in the Canada Day matches.

Q: Which team will make the last sub?

A: The easiest way to look at this is which club will save a substitution to kill the clock off, meaning which team will be ahead late in the match? Clubs higher up in the standings like Halifax and Cavalry are safe bets, the only 50/50 opportunity may be for the Valour and York9 match where both clubs are currently facing problems scoring roadblocks.

Q: Which team will have more Canadians play this match?

A: So far we’ve seen clubs with younger rosters give more playing time to Canadian players. It would then be wise to consider Pacific and Valour as options here. Valour manager Rob Gale has specifically spoken about getting younger players playing time as the Spring Competition comes to a close, a huge hint for things to come.