2024 CPL Regular Season — Match #69**
** Vancouver FC vs. Pacific FC
** August 11, 2024 at 2 p.m. PT
** Willoughby Community Park in Langley, British Columbia
** Watch Live: OneSoccer.ca & TELUS Ch. 980** // Tickets available here
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It’s derby weekend in British Columbia, as Vancouver FC and Pacific FC get set to meet in the seventh installment of the Salish Sea Derby this Sunday at Willoughby Community Park. There, a lot will be at stake for both teams, even beyond the usual stakes of a typical derby match, as both teams are entering a pivotal stretch of their respective seasons. Now rapidly approaching the end of the third quarter of the 2024 CPL campaign, and with the table tighter than ever, the next few weeks will be crucial in deciding the playoff futures of teams across the league. Especially for both Vancouver and Pacific, who enter this game tied for the fifth and final playoff spot with 20 points as of writing, this match could prove to be massive for the table if it yields a winner. Certainly, Vancouver will hope they can claim all three points, and heading into this game, they’ll be favoured to do so. A big reason for that? Their record in this derby. After losing the first two matchups to Pacific last year, Vancouver’s turned around their form in a big way, winning four straight matches over their rivals, doing well to carve out a key edge in this head-to-head matchup. Now, heading into this matchup, that’ll go out the window as it’s a brand-new game, but they’ll feel confident in their ability to make it five straight. Given that they’ve won all four by one goal, too, that’s not an unreasonable expectation to have – they’ve done well to find victories against Pacific, even if it’s meant getting the job done late, with three of those four wins happening thanks to winning goals that have occurred in the 80th minute or later. Therefore, even though they’ve won one of their last 10 matches in CPL play, which was their last matchup against Pacific, they’ll hope to return to winning ways in this one, and use that to get back on track. “This is exciting, partly because regardless of where we are in the table, regardless of what’s happened (recently), it’s a game that gives you an opportunity to start fresh from the first kick to the last kick,” Vancouver’s head coach, Afshin Ghotbi, said this week of the derby. As for Pacific, however, they’ll feel this is a good time to reset their form in this derby, and pick up a crucial victory. While teams don’t like to dwell too much in the past, as it’s important to stay focused on the future, it’s hard to not feel frustrated when struggling to beat a certain rival. Because of that, they aren’t shying away from admitting that they want to get a win in this game, knowing that it could provide a big morale boost to their group. A team that has also been struggling as of late, winning just two of their last 12 games, they’ll want to use this as a chance to get back on track in their campaign, as well. Therefore, while they’ll enter this game with their focus firmly planted on their own play, and growing from what they’ve learned from this recent stretch of games, they want to make the most of this derby match given what it means to them. “We need to attack the game,” Pacific’s head coach, James Merriman, noted. “We need to change that storyline (of derby losses), when you look back at the each game, we were up in a lot of them, we were in control, especially in the first half of those matches, and then we let Vancouver come back into the match, and that’s four games without a result now, and each one has its own story.”
In terms of player availability, Vancouver should have a full set of players, with Olivier Rommens looking likely to make the matchday squad after suffering an injury in the last game. Meanwhile, Pacific should also have a full squad to choose from, including new signing Kevin Ceceri, although it was revealed that Eric Lajeunesse is set to return to U SPORTS side UBC after this game, which is a blow given how steady he’s been for Pacific this season.
All CPL matches are available to stream on OneSoccer, FuboTV, or on TELUS Optik TV Channel 980.
3 THINGS TO WATCH
- **Playoff level intensity expected for crucial derby match: **Could this matchup offer a playoff preview, both in terms of a potential matchup and how it’ll be played? It’s far too early to say in regard to the former, as a lot can change in the table even if they enter this game tied, but the latter could certainly play out in this match. Given that it’s a derby match, and that a win could be massive for both teams playoff hopes, it will put a lot of pressure on both teams to win, much like in a playoff game. Because of that, expect an intense matchup, one where every pass, shot, tackle and goal will mean something. With a strong showing of supporters from both sides expected, that intensity should be felt off the field, too, making for a unique atmosphere. Yet, that’s the beauty of a derby – no matter the occasion, these matches mean something extra. When you add what’s at stake in this one, however? It can go to another level, which could make this one of the most fascinating matchups between these two teams in this derbies history, one that has already yielded some pretty special matches. * **Will Vancouver be able to keep things tight defensively? **If Vancouver’s to get back to winning ways in league play, however, a big area of focus for them will be defensively, as they’ve now allowed 30 goals in 17 games this season, which is the most in the CPL. For a side that looked defensively sound to start the year, it’s been a big surprise to see, yet a couple of recent results have played a big role in that, as they’ve conceded three goals three times and four goals once in their past seven games, a stretch in which they’ve conceded 16 goals. That’s played a huge role in their recent slump, because no matter how dangerous one is offensively, it’s hard to win games when conceding that many goals, especially on a regular basis. There’s no doubt that this team can find the back of the net on its day, sitting fourth in the CPL with 22 goals, but they’ll need to keep things tight at the back to have a chance to win. In particular, they’ll have to make sure that their mistakes don’t snowball – it can be okay to concede a goal, as mistakes happen. What can’t happen is for that one goal to all of a sudden turn into two, three or four as heads drop and mistakes pile up, so the important thing for Vancouver will be not to aim for perfection defensively, but to ensure they remain consistent in their approach. “We are taking goals in different ways, and most of them are individual and concentration mistakes,” Ghotbi said of his team’s defensive play. * **Pacific chasing internal growth ahead of crucial stretch: **As for Pacific, they’ll know what they’ll want to clean up in their game as they look to get back into the win column on a regular basis – their offence, as they remain last in the CPL with 14 goals, four behind second-last. The second-stingiest defensive team in the league, having conceded just 16 goals in 14 games, they’ve done well to keep the ball out of their net, but haven’t scored enough to take advantage of the work they’ve done in their own box. Despite that, however, Pacific’s preaching calm as they look to find solutions offensively. Armed with several players who they know can find the net, they feel that once they get going, they’ll find some momentum, but they first need to get the rock rolling. To best do that, however, that’ll start with internal growth, as they are looking to find the best ways to get their attackers involved, instead of getting too worried about matchups or opponents. Ultimately, they feel that their best way to score comes down to their own execution, and are operating as such. Now, they’ll look for their work to pay off, especially given Vancouver’s recent defensive struggles, and then go from there. “We can’t focus on the external,” Merriman said. “We just need to be very focused on ourselves right now, we need to work on our football, on what we’re doing with the ball, what we’re doing without the ball, and focus on our process.”
PROJECTED STARTING XIs
Vancouver FC: Irving; Chung, Romeo, Norman Jr., Gee; Garcia, Fry; Cantave, Fisk; Díaz, Dyer
**Pacific FC: **Gazdov; Dada-Luke, Quintana, Meilleur-Giguère, Lajeunesse; Dominguez; Sellouf, Young, Yeates, Heard; Moore
ALL-TIME SERIES
Vancouver FC wins: 4 || Pacific FC wins: 2 || Draws: 0
Last meeting:
June 27, 2024 — Pacific 1-2 Vancouver FC
KEY QUOTES
“I think if there’s any group that hasn’t done their part, it’s us as a team not being able to deliver the results we wanted to at home, especially in the recent home games. But our fans, from the first day that we started this club until now, have been spectacular. I love each and every one of them, there was our game where we were losing 4-0 to Halifax, and I was hearing fans behind me shouting that we were going to win 5-4, and nowhere in the world that happens, so I feel proud of our fans, and I feel that every one of them has stood by the team from from day one until now, through the good and bad days, and even in ugly days. So I feel that they’ll be with us again, and we will not disappoint in this derby and in the upcoming games that we have ahead of us.” — Vancouver FC head coach Afshin Ghotbi ” Each match is is like a final right now. Across the league, you’ve seen all the results last last weekend – we know anybody can beat anybody on any given day in this league, and that means you need to focus on yourself. You need to find that consistency and focus on your own process, stick to your own football and believe in that. We know our standard, we’ve always been a top four team, top three team in this league, and we need to get back there – we need to fight our way back there. We have a lot of new players, we need to understand where we’re at, and we have to attack each game with that mentality.” — Pacific FC head coach James Merriman