Match #6
VALOUR FC (1-3-1) vs. PACIFIC FC (3-1-1)
When: Saturday, May 20th, 4 p.m. CDT
Where: IG Field
How to watch: OneSoccer is broadcasting all Canadian Premier League games live https://onesoccer.ca/
MATCH PREVIEW:
Valour FC looks to secure points again after dropping its first match in league play in last week’s 3-2 loss to CPL champion Forge FC in Hamilton. This match will see the club managed by assistant coaches Daryl Fordyce and Jay Bhindi as GM and head coach Phillip Dos Santos has left to secure his UEFA ‘Pro’ license – the highest in football – in Europe.
Valour is trying to lock down its first home victory of the season on Saturday after playing to a pair of draws in their two home performances – a 1-1 effort vs. Atlético Ottawa in their home opener followed by a nil-nil draw with HFX Wanderers. The squad is riding a nine-match home unbeaten streak with five wins and four draws that dates back to a 2-1 loss to Pacific last July 30th.
Pacific, meanwhile, is coming off a pair of 4-1 wins over Ottawa and York United FC and sits in second place in the CPL standings.
THE GAFFER SAYS:
GM and head coach Phillip Dos Santos on Pacific FC:
“Pacific is a team that kept a solid base. I look at their back line and their midfield and even though there are a couple of additions there is still (Manny) Aparicio, (Cédric) Toussaint, who finished the season with them… what they did well is they added a lot of depth and quality in the attacking phase and some in the midfield.
“It’s a team that has the ability to stay on the ball and play a possession game and be effective with it. They’re at their best in quick-break attacks. They’re patient in the way they defend and then very aggressive in the way they attack the opposition by exploiting spaces.
“It’s a team that you see has scored 10 goals in its last three games – eight in the last two CPL games – and they are motivated knowing they have a Canadian Championship semi-final midweek against the Whitecaps at home, so we’re probably getting a Pacific team that is coming in during one of their best moments so far.
“We also need to understand that doesn’t change who we are as a team and the fact we’re at home. If we want to be competing against these teams at the end, we need to take points away from them.”
VALOUR FC SPOTLIGHT:
#7: Kian Williams, F: Quickly emerging as a speedy, attacking threat on the wing for Valour after scoring two goals and adding an assist. He and Pacifique Niyongabire on the opposite flank are already causing nightmares for opposing back lines.
CRITICAL NUMBER
1,009
The U-21 minutes for Valour FC’s young Canadian players this season – most in the CPL and 462 more than Pacific, the next closest. That’s already more than have the required CPL quota of 2,000 minutes to help develop domestic players 21 years old or younger.
That total is led by Matteo de Brienne with 450, as he has played every minute for the club at left back.
All-time Valour FC vs. Pacific FC: (win-draw-loss): 2-11-2
Last meeting: August 28, 2022, IG Field: Valour FC 1 Pacific FC 0