August 9, 2024...Preview: Valour FC vs. York United FC - 2024 Match #70 (from canpl.ca)

PREVIEW: Valour FC vs. York United FC — 2024 Match #70
2024-08-09
by Mitchell Tierney, Digital Content Producer (@mitchelltierney)

2024 CPL Regular Season — Match #70
Valour FC vs. York United FC
August 11, 2024 at 7 p.m. CT/8 p.m. ET
Princess Auto Stadium in Winnipeg, Manitoba

Watch Live: OneSoccer.ca & TELUS Ch. 980 //

For the first time since September 2022, Valour FC come into Sunday’s match against York United having recorded back-to-back victories.

Coincidentally, those wins came against the very same opponents that they completed that feat against two years ago, having defeated Forge FC 2-1 this past weekend, following a 3-0 victory over Pacific FC the week before.

At Princess Auto Stadium on Sunday they will look to make it three straight against one of the league’s hottest teams, York United. The Nine Stripes are the only team in CPL undefeated in their past five matches, and sit just one point behind top-of-the-table Atlético Ottawa.

“[York] is probably one of the teams with the best momentum and playing its best football since the beginning of the year,” said Valour FC coach Phil Dos Santos. “So for us, it’s going to be about staying true to ourselves, making sure that we take away spaces for the opposition, that we neutralize their best pieces.”

Valour, however, remain the only team who have defeated York United under July’s CPL Manager of the Month Benjamín Mora since he has been in charge. The Nine Stripes have recorded three wins and two draws since that June 27 meeting at Princess Auto Stadium, during which Valour won 1-0 on a goal from Diogo Ressurreição.

The two sides also met at York Lions Stadium back on May 10, with the Nine Stripes claiming victory on that occasion by a score of 3-1. In general, however, York United has had far less success in Winnipeg over the years. They have won just one of their past six away dates against Valour, and have been shut out four times.

They also won just two of the eight matches they played in Winnipeg during the 2021 bubble. However, they will feel hard by the result of their last trip to Manitoba, the aforementioned 1-0 loss despite putting up 1.46 expected goals and taking 16 shots.

York United also now feature a new weapon who will help them significantly in their pursuit of scoring in Winnipeg this time, Jorge Guzmán. The 20-year-old Mexican attacker has already set a league record for quickest player to reach three assists in his Canadian Premier League career, having done so in his first two matches.

Valour, meanwhile, have been enjoying outstanding offensive success of late. For the first time since November 2021, the Winnipeg club has scored multiple goals in three straight matches — with seven scored during that time.

Both clubs made significant roster announcements this past week, with York United confirming the departure of midfielder Brem Soumaoro. Valour, meanwhile, announced that key attacker Kian Williams will miss the remainder of the CPL season through a partial ACL tear, and has been placed on the inactive list.

All CPL matches are available to stream on OneSoccer, FuboTV, or on TELUS Optik TV Channel 980.

3 THINGS TO WATCH

Scoring by committee getting the job done for Valour: The Winnipeg club have undoubtedly been sharing the wealth in front of goal over the past few matches, as their past seven goals have been scored by seven different players: Safwane Mlah, Gianfranco Facchineri, Themi Antonoglou, Shaan Hundal, Abdul Binate, Jordan Swibel and Diogo Ressurreição. It hasn’t just been the goalscorers either, with the likes of Jordan Faria earning a spot in the CPL Team of the Week for his playmaking ability. Aside from the importance of having contributions from different players, Valour head coach Phil Dos Santos says this has also helped increase the confidence of many of those players. He has also been impressed with how many different ways the team has scored recently, be that in transition, set pieces, or moments of individual brilliance. “I think that’s the exciting part, we feel we have goals in us,” said Dos Santos. “We don’t know how they’re going to come all the time, but we feel that we have goals that the team has scored in many different ways this year.”

Big chance for York to continue march up the table: York United have been very vocal in recent weeks of the fact that they believe they can finish at the top of the CPL table. This past week they missed an opportunity to move into the top spot, as Atlético Ottawa lost to Cavalry FC, but York only managed to pick up a point away from home at Pacific. With the gap at the top of the table narrowed to just a single point, however, the Nine Stripes will see another strong opportunity to solidify their spot in the table, as Atleti take on third-place Forge FC on Saturday in Hamilton. Ideally for the Nine Stripes, those two clubs split points, but even if they don’t a win on Sunday would help York create some space on one of their Ontario rivals. If Atleti drop points for the fourth straight match, a draw (if Atleti lose) or a win would be enough for York to surpass them. Mora, for his part, said this group is only worried about controlling what they can control, but one wouldn’t be surprised if they take half a glance at the result of that match in Hamilton before they play on Sunday.

Tass Mourdoukoutas and Frank Facchineri: Valour come into Sunday’s match on the back of three strong defensive performances, having conceded just three goals in that time. A big key to that has been the emergence of central defensive duo Tass Mourdoukoutas and Frank Facchineri. The pair are among the league leaders in clearances and blocks and are both excellent in aerial duels. Against one of the league’s most dangerous attacking teams in York United, especially facing Golden Boot leader Brian Wright, they will be crucial to the Winnipeg side earning a favourable result on Sunday. “They complement each other very well,” said Dos Santos. “It’s two players that are good in the air, that play very aggressively outside of the line, either in front or in coming across to take away spaces. So they’ve been consistently good for us in that aspect.”

PROJECTED STARTING XIs

Valour FC: Viscosi; Alarcón, Mourdoukoutas, Facchineri, Antonoglou; Faria, Mlah, Campbell, Ressurreição; Binate, Swibel

York United: Vincensini; Ferrari, Abatneh, Sturing, León, Botello; Córdova, Adekugbe, Babouli, Guzmán; Wright

ALL-TIME SERIES
Valour FC wins: 9 || York United wins 7 || Draws: 2

Last meeting:
June 27, 2024 — Valour FC 1-0 York United

KEY QUOTES

“I think that collectively, we’ve been cohesive. I think the team has minimized mistakes. I think that even when things aren’t going well for us throughout the 90 minutes, we find ways of getting out of some of those moments and respond, and get back on track, and that’s something that was a bit more difficult earlier in the season. So I think that the team has gained a bit of momentum in the way we’ve played collectively.” — Valour FC head coach Phil Dos Santos

“We have a sense of revenge, if you want to call it like that. But I think it’s a new game. It’s a new moment, it’s a new environment, it’s a new context. I think players have been growing individually and collectively… we come in with a good vibe, energy, in a good moment. We have been training very well.” — York United head coach Benjamín Mora

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