Canadian Premier League — Match #8
Cavalry FC vs. Valour FC
May 8, 2019 — ATCO Field, Spruce Meadows (9 p.m. ET, 7 p.m. MT)
Watch Live: OneSoccer.ca

Wednesday’s western Canadian Premier League match will pit two early favourites for the Spring Season title at Spruce Meadows in Calgary.

Cavalry FC and Valour FC topped the first edition of the Centre Circle Live! Power Rankings this week, making the two sides favourites of CanPL.ca’s staff through the first six matches played.

Valour, which came second in the aforementioned power rankings, dominated large swaths of play in Saturday’s 2-1 loss to FC Edmonton. CanPL.ca contributor Ryan Brandt has reported some potential changes for Rob Gale’s side ahead of the trip to Calgary, which is part of a five-games-in-16-days stretch.

Cavalry, the club that topped the first CCL! Power Rankings, enters Wednesday following a comfortable 2-1 victory over York9 FC at ATCO Field. Head coach Tommy Wheeldon Jr. started the season off strong, recording 70% possession in the first half against Y9 and largely stifling their opponents defensively.

Following Wednesday, Cavalry will hit the road for the first time this season with a weekend trip to Tim Hortons Field to take on Forge FC (7 p.m. ET/OneSoccer). Valour, meanwhile, will return home to host HFX Wanderers on Saturday (3:30 p.m. ET, 2:30 p.m. CT/OneSoccer).

KEYS TO THE MATCH

• Possession & Pressure: As CanPL.ca contributor Steven Sandor pointed out, both Cavalry and Valour have made their bacon so far this season by pressing high up the pitch and forcing errors from opponents. It will be interesting to see if both sides continue with that high-intensity gameplan at Spruce Meadows, especially Valour, having travelled from Van Isle to Manitoba to Calgary in the span of a week.
• Leading The Charge: Perhaps the biggest knock against Cavalry is it failed to score from open play against York9. Jordan Brown and Dominique Malonga took eight shots between them, with Brown converting once from a corner. If the Cavs see as much of the ball as they did on Saturday, look for their strikers to make good on those chances.
• Hard Refresh: Rob Gale will surely make adjustments as his side is in the midst of a tiring stretch of matches. The question is: how far will this rotation go? He’s been sturdy in his selection so far, making one change to his starting XI on Saturday. Only Ali Musse, Dylan Carreiro and 17-year-old Tyler Attardo have seen significant minutes off the bench, meaning we could see multiple Valour players make their debuts if Gale makes considerable changes.

PROJECTED LINEUPS

Cavalry FC: Marco Carducci; Dominick Zator, Jay Wheeldon, Joel Waterman; Jose Escalante, Nik Ledgerwood, Elijah Adekugbe, Dean Northover; Dominique Malonga, Sergio Camargo, Jordan Brown

Valour FC: Tyson Farago; Jordan Murrell, Skylar Thomas, Martín Arguiñarena; Nicolás Galvis,  Louis Béland-Goyette, Dylan Carreiro, Diego Gutiérrez; Dylan Sacramento, Stephen Hoyle, Ali Musse

HEAD-TO-HEAD

First meeting between these clubs

STATS LEADERS 

Jordan Brown, Dominick Zator – 1 goal
Michael Petrasso, Stephen Hoyle, Dylan Carreiro — 1 goal

INJURIES

Chris Serban (Cavalry FC) – Knee

INTERNATIONAL DUTY

None

SUSPENSIONS

None

ACCUMULATION

None

REFEREES

Referee: Fabrizio Stasolla
Assistant Referees: Chris Wattam, Giancarlo Pavone 
4th Official: Drew Fischer