2024 CPL Regular Season — Match #74**
** Valour FC vs. Halifax Wanderers
** August 17, 2024 at 7:30 p.m. CT/9:30 p.m. AT
** Princess Auto Stadium in Winnipeg, Manitoba
** Watch Live: OneSoccer.ca & TELUS Ch. 980** // Tickets available here
Note: The kickoff time for this match has been changed to 7:30 p.m. CT due to projected poor air quality in the Winnipeg area.
A cross-Canada road trip for the Halifax Wanderers concludes in Winnipeg on Saturday, where they face Valour FC in a meeting between the league’s seventh and eighth-place teams. It is the first time the Wanderers have travelled to Princess Auto Stadium since the final day of the 2023 CPL regular season, as both meetings between the two sides this year have been played in Halifax. Each team has a victory in the head-to-head series in 2024, with Valour picking up their first win of the season 2-1 over Halifax back on May 20, while the Wanderers were victorious in the most recent clash, a 3-1 victory on July 18. The Wanderers are coming off a busy stretch that has already seen them travel to Calgary this past Saturday, a 3-2 loss to Cavalry, before a midweek loss in Hamilton 2-0 against Forge FC. But Valour know that despite all the travel, they will face a hungry opponent on Saturday desperate for three points. “I was alerting the staff that we went to play a game where we lost in Halifax 3-1, and went to play a game 60 hours after [in Ottawa], and we had a lot of energy,” said Valour FC head coach Phil Dos Santos. “So I think that the mind could carry you to big places, and 72 hours is enough time for players to recover. So I’m expecting always the strongest possible opponent, and that’s how I prepare the team.” Just a single point currently separates Valour and Halifax in the table, with the two sides sitting six and seven points respectively out of the fifth final playoff position. The Wanderers do still have a match in hand, but failed to capitalize on another they had on most of the league midweek against Forge. While Halifax have dominated the head-to-head series historically, with their 12 wins against, Valour double what they have managed against any other opponent in club history, that record changes significantly in matches in Winnipeg. The Wanderers only just picked up their first CPL regular season win in Winnipeg on the final day of the 2023 season. That match, won 1-0 on a goal by Massimo Ferrin, was also the first time that the Wanderers had ever scored away against Valour in a league match. They did also beat Valour 1-0 in Winnipeg on July 24, 2021, but were technically the home team in that match during the Winnipeg bubble. Halifax are looking to avoid losing three straight matches for the first time since the opening three weeks of the season — something which would significantly dampen their hopes of getting back above the playoff line. After Halifax’s loss in Hamilton on Wednesday, defender Dan Nimick called Saturday’s game in Winnipeg a must-win. “Saturday is a must-win, I believe we will get it done, and I 100 per cent believe we will make the playoffs,” said Nimick. “I know for a fact we are not a last-placed team, despite what the table says right now.” The Wanderers will be without head coach Patrice Gheisar, who has been suspended for this match through yellow card accumulation, as well as midfielder Jérémy Gagnon-Laparé who was sent off against Forge. Assistant coach Jorden Feliciano will take over on the touchline. Goalkeeper Yann Fillion, however, does return to the lineup after having served his suspension.
All CPL matches are available to stream on OneSoccer, FuboTV, or on TELUS Optik TV Channel 980.
3 THINGS TO WATCH
- Sean Rea makes his return to Winnipeg: For the first time since the 2022 season, during which he was named the Canadian Premier League’s Best U-21 Canadian Player, and nominated for a number of other awards, Sean Rea returns to Winnipeg on Saturday. He does so, however, in different colours as a member of the Halifax Wanderers. In three appearances so far with his new club, Rea has been kept off the scoresheet, but it feels like only a matter of time before he creates another special moment — and his former home would be a great place to do so. “He gets motivated by occasions, and for him, he’s playing an occasion,” said Dos Santos. “He’s coming back to a place that he called home for a bit…so yes he’s a piece, he’s part of what they’re building right now. But I think that for us, our approach needs to be a collective one, and make sure that we defend as a unit against a team that offensively has a lot of pieces that could make a difference any given moment in a game.” * **Can Halifax find a way to play from in front?: **A significant issue for the Wanderers this season has been an inability to take control of games early. In fact, through 17 matches played, they have scored the opening goal in a match just three times this season. They are currently on a stretch of six straight matches without doing so, as even during their 3-1 victory over Valour FC in their most recent meetings, it was the Winnipeg club who opened the scoring on that day through Shaan Hundal. With tired legs coming into this match, chasing a game is not something the Wanderers will want to find themselves doing on Saturday. Once they have the lead, they have dropped just four points from winning positions this season, the fewest in the league. Valour, meanwhile, has collected just a single point from losing positions so far this season — further emphasizing the importance of the opening goal on Saturday. * Can Valour stay out of penalty trouble? The last time these two sides met, despite scoring the opening goal the Winnipeg side quickly got themselves into penalty trouble. They gave up a stunning three the last time they met back on July 18, with Dan Nimick converting two of three, and Jonathan Viscosi denying him a first-even Wanderers hattrick in club history. With a number of tricky dribbling attacking options, the Wanderers have been the best team in the league at winning spot kicks, with a league-leading eight so far this season. “How we avoid seeing the same situation occur is making sure that we keep the opposition away from dangerous areas and situations where they outnumber our players, or that there’s no pressure on the ball,” said Dos Santos. “That’s the best way to go about it.”
PROJECTED STARTING XIs
Valour FC: Viscosi; Alarcón, Facchineri, Mourdoukoutas, Antonoglou; Faria, Ohin, Campbell, Ressurreição; Hundal, Swibel
Halifax Wanderers: Fillion; Timoteo, Nimick, Alphonse, Fernandez; Rea, Callegari, Daniels, Ferrin; Telfer, Coimbra
ALL-TIME SERIES
Valour FC wins: 6 || Halifax Wanderers wins: 12 || Draws: 3
Last meeting:
July 18, 2024 — Halifax Wanderers 3-1 Valour FC
KEY QUOTES
“I believe that we’re going to play against a very strong team that comes with the motivation to get away from the last two results they’ve had and maybe the urgency that if they want to reach their objectives, they need to gather points, just like us.” — Valour FC head coach Phil Dos Santos “I think they’re motivated, they’re at a good place where they have found what their new identity is. And I think, you know, the game that we had [in July] was an emotional game, so I’m sure they want to come out and make a statement. But they’re looking good, and Phil’s got them set up really nicely, so I think it’ll be a very exciting game.” — Halifax Wanderers head coach Patrice Gheisar