2024 CPL Regular Season — Match #56
Vancouver FC vs. York United FC
July 18, 2024 at 3 p.m. PT/6 p.m. ET
Willoughby Community Park in Langley, British Columbia
Watch Live: OneSoccer.ca & TELUS Ch. 980 // Tickets available here

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A busy matchday of Canadian Premier League action is set to continue in British Columbia on Saturday, as Vancouver FC gets set to host a red-hot York United side at Langley’s Willoughby Community Park.

Their first meeting at Willoughby since the last matchday of the 2023 season, where York defeated Vancouver 2-1 to book the fifth and final spot in the 2023 CPL playoffs, a lot has changed with both teams since that October 6th match.

A look at the table indicates as much, as Vancouver enters in fourth place after finishing 2023 in seventh, while York is in second, putting both in strong playoff positions at the moment.

Yet, with a tight table, with just six points separating second and sixth place as of writing, both teams will know that a win could go a long way for them, helping them keep pace in a race that seems to only get tighter by the week.

On one side, Vancouver’s looking to find some consistency amid a topsy-turvy run of results, as they’ve amassed a record of 1W-3D-3L in their last seven games, getting outscored 15-7 across those matches.

Especially with four of their next five games being at home, there’s no better time for them to start pouring in the goals than now, helping them regain some confidence as they get set to tackle the second half of the season.

“It’s very important to put things in perspective anytime you reach a key moment in the season, and we’re at the halfway point now,” Vancouver’s head coach, Afshin Ghotbi said this week. “We’ve played 14 matches, and you can look back and look at it in a positive tone, as last year we won only eight games, and we’ve already won five this year, last year we had 29 points, so we already are almost scratching at 20, and I feel like we are very competitive in every game.”

As for York, they won’t be looking to change much in this game, and for good reason – they’re the hottest team in the CPL right now.

At least that’s what the form chart indicates, as they’ve won four and lost one of their last five games, picking up a league-high 12 points across that span. Thanks to that, they don’t just sit in second place, but are within a reasonable distance of first place Atlético Ottawa, too, with the gap between those two sides sitting at five points.

Yet, it’s a sign of the work they’ve put in since the arrival of new manager Benjamín Mora at the beginning of June, as they’ve picked up a record of 4W-1D-1L since he’s taken over.

Now, they’ll look to keep the good times rolling as they focus on their next goal – taking over at the top of the table.

“We are in a good moment,” Mora said this week. “The players feel comfortable, confident and are progressing in very way, so we know we have been doing things the best we can and the results have been with us, but tomorrow is a different game. We need to just separate what we have done, to what we need to do (in this game) for 100 minutes.”

In terms of squad availability, Vancouver FC received a big boost this week with the signing of veteran Belgian midfielder Olivier Rommens, who is a candidate to start according to Ghotbi, but remain without Vasco Fry due to suspension. Meanwhile, York United look to welcome back Austin Ricci from suspension, giving them a full complement of players to choose from for this game.

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

3 THINGS TO WATCH

• York aiming to continue strong form in this matchup: York don’t just enter this match in good form in league play, but they’ve got a pretty good all-time record against Vancouver, having won five and drawn one of the seven meetings between these two sides. Not only that, but they’re undefeated in five games against Vancouver (4W-1D-0L) since they fell 2-1 at home to them on April 22 of 2023. To be fair, that was a pretty big moment for Vancouver, as it was their first-ever win as a club, but they’ll feel they could’ve done better to find another win over York since then. For what it’s worth, it’s not as if York has been blowing them out – of those five wins and one draw York have picked up over them all-time, four of the wins have been decided by one goal, as York has beaten them by multiple goals just once, picking up a 3-0 win earlier this year. Because of that, that’ll only push Vancouver to want to come out strongly in this game – in a league where teams can meet four to eight times a season, teams take note of who has the upper hand in a matchup, so look for Vancouver to start to turn the all-time series back in their favour going forward.

• Vancouver looking for bounceback performance at home: Home defeats never feel good, as the last thing teams want to do is to give up precious points in front of their supporters, sending them home without the sweet feeling of victory. Yet, defeats can happen, so it’s not as if losing a game or two at home is a devastating thing. That’s not the case for Vancouver, however, who enter this game fresh off of a pair of defeats in their last two home games, and they were two matches that stung them, too. Coming at the hands of the Halifax Wanderers, who picked up their first win of the CPL season on June 23rd with a 4-0 result, and Atlético Ottawa, who dispatched Vancouver with a 3-0 win on July 12th, the games weren’t just frustrating due to the results, but how they happened. Having called the Wanderers loss “humbling” and the Ottawa loss “embarrassing, it’s put the pressure on them to put in a strong performance in this York match-up, as a third straight home loss would be tough to swallow for a team that looked dominant at home in the earlier stages of the year, winning three and drawing one of their first four matches at Willoughby Community Park. If Vancouver’s to push back up the table, re-finding that home form is crucial, given that they’ll play four of their next five at home before embarking on a road-heavy slate to end the season. “This is our fortress, right?” Vancouver forward Alejandro Díaz said this week. “We’ve got to do way better than our last two games we had in at home, but I think this is a great opportunity, these upcoming home games, but first we’ve got to think about (this York) match, as it’s a great opportunity for us to bounce back and to fight for all three points.”

• Can York’s defence continue strong run? There’s a lot of factors that have contributed to York’s strong run of form as of late, but one aspect has been particularly key – their defence, as they’ve conceded just four goals in their past five games. They’ve kept only one clean sheet, as the four goals have been spread across four games, but that’s actually suited them, as they’ve won three of those four games where they conceded a goal, with a 1-0 loss to Valour on June 27th the lone exception in that regard. There’s no doubt that this York side can score goals, as their 21 goals is third in the CPL, but they’ve also conceded the third-most goals with 20, meaning they’ve engaged in a lot of high-scoring games. Now, however, they’ve done well to keep their own net quieter while still remaining dangerous offensively, and as one would expect, that’s been a good combination for them. The challenge going forward will be to find a way to maintain that balance at both ends, especially as teams start to face this new-look York side under Mora for the second and third time, but it’s a good start, one they’ll feel they’re poised to build off of going forward, starting with this game, where Vancouver will be the first team to face York under Mora for a second time. “I have a strong centre backs,” Mora explained. “I have a really strong defensive block, including the central midfielders, they all know what to do. They are training very well in the small, detailed exercises that we do, the defensive drills for our block and in transition, so they all know what to do, and when they know what to do, it’s easier to achieve success.”

PROJECTED STARTING XIs

Vancouver FC: Irving; Gee, Romeo, Norman Jr., Crawford; Rommens, Garcia; Fisk, Bitar, Cantave; Díaz

York United FC: Vincensini; Ferrari, Abatneh, Sturing, Léon, Martin-Pereux; Martínez, Adekugbe, Córdova; Wright, Babouli

ALL-TIME SERIES

Vancouver FC wins: 1 || York United FC wins: 5 || Draws: 1

Last meeting:

June 9, 2024 — York United FC 2-2 Vancouver FC

KEY QUOTES

“In the first half of the season, we had several good games with several good results in a row, but then all of a sudden, we dropped points when everybody thinks that we might to go to the top of the table, as somehow either the pressure of that or a few mistakes that are made on the field affects us in a negative way. But I’m very optimistic, because I really still believe in the team, we have a very interesting group of players who are all growing and maturing at different rates, and it’s my responsibility to to put all the losses on my shoulder and take them to heart, and then try to take that pressure off my players and help them stay positive, regroup and hopefully have a great game tomorrow and build off of that, because for us, it’s the halfway point now, the first half is over, it’s almost like a new season is starting, and that’s how we’re going to approach it.” — Vancouver FC head coach Afshin Ghotbi

“Our expectations must be 100% to win this game, and 100% to win all of the games. Winning and and being able to achieve success starts from good expectations. Life, sports and football develops in different ways where sometimes you achieve (those goals), sometimes you can’t and sometimes you come close, but then again, the expectation is to be the best, to (chase) the best scenario possible, to shoot for the moon, and then you will still land in the stars, right? So our expectations are very high, from me to to our players, and there is self-confidence, we’re going to try our best to do whatever is in our control, and that is to give everything 100% in the tactical, physical, mental, technical and strategic side. So yes, of course, we expect to win, and we expect to do our best.” — York United FC head coach Benjamín Mora