Match #22
VALOUR FC (6-3-12) vs. ATLÉTICO OTTAWA (10-6-5)
When: Monday, September 9th, 7 p.m. CDT
Where: Princess Auto Stadium, Winnipeg, Mb.
Tickets: Available here.
Match theme: Jersey night with free jersey giveaways during the match and buy one/get one free deals in the store.
take a look at what’s to come during our Jersey Night, Sept. 9th, 7pm at Princess Auto Stadium 🏟️ 🔊
🎟️« https://t.co/wxbbYNn0zN#ForValour pic.twitter.com/4GaVDP3PbF
— Valour FC (@ValourFootball) September 6, 2024
MATCH PREVIEW:
Valour FC’s push for a playoff spot has reached crunch time with the schedule shrinking to just seven matches remaining and teams around them picking up points. The club is playing good football of late with a 3-2-2 mark in its last seven and enters Monday’s match in seventh place in the Canadian Premier League standings with 21 points — just five points out of the fifth and final playoff spot currently held by Vancouver FC, with Pacific FC in sixth place with 23 points.
Five of Valour’s remaining seven matches are at home and the time is now for the club to capitalize on homefield advantage. Valour is 4-0-5 at Princess Auto Stadium this season. This will mark a short week for the squad as after Monday’s meeting with Ottawa they are in Toronto to face York on Friday, September 13th.
Valour rallied for a critical draw in Calgary in its last match, falling behind 2-nil to Cavalry before second-half goals by Raphael Ohin and Abdul Binate. That draw helped them pick up one point on Vancouver, which fell 1-nil to Ottawa.
Forward Jordi Swibel leads Valour with seven goals while defender Themi Antongolou leads the CPL with seven assists. Goalkeeper Jonathan Viscosi is second in the CPL with 59 saves.
THE OTHER GUYS:
3 Facts about Atlético Ottawa FC:
- Atléti is unbeaten in its last three with two wins and a draw, the most recent result a 1-nil home victory over Vancouver FC. That run was preceded by a slump, as the club had dropped three straight. Ottawa is second in the CPL standings with 36 points, just five back of first-place Forge FC with a match in hand.
- Ottawa’s leading scorer is Ruben del Campo, who is tied for the league lead with nine goals — two of those goals came against Valour and he also found the back of the net twice in their Canadian Championship victory against the black, maroon and white back in May.
- Veteran goalkeeper Nathan Ingram has five clean sheets, tied for second in the CPL.
VALOUR FC SPOTLIGHT:
#19, Abdul Binate, forward: Binate scored a massive goal in the draw with Cavalry, coming off the bench to head home a corner in the 70th minute and help Valour rally from 2-nil down to a 2-2 tie. Valour has had solid work up front from Jordi Swibel and Shaan Hundal and Binate has been pressing both for more minutes with his work rate and his growing confidence.
CRITICAL NUMBER
+10
Atlético Ottawa has a +10 goal differential, having scored 35 and conceded 25. That’s the exact opposite total for Valour, which has 25 goals yet has conceeded 35.
All-Time: Valour FC vs. Atlético Ottawa FC
Overall: (win-draw-loss): 6-4-7
Last meeting: July 21, 2024, TD Place, Ottawa — Atlético Ottawa 2 Valour FC 2