The pressure is on in British Columbia, as Vancouver FC hosts Valour FC in a pivotal Canadian Premier League clash at Willoughby Community Park on Friday.
A battle between the two teams currently at the bottom of the CPL table, this is a massive match for both sides, as they look to keep their playoff hopes alive heading into the last round of regular-season matches.
With just seven games remaining in their respective schedules, crunch time begins now, with only one match left to play against each of the other teams in the CPL before the end of the regular season.
For Vancouver, however, they’re just hoping to keep themselves in that race for another week, as they’re officially up for elimination for the first time all year.
If they lose, they’ll be eliminated from playoff contention, and even a draw or a win might be enough to keep them alive, depending on the results elsewhere, as they sit 18 points behind fifth-place York United and 21 points behind the fourth-place Halifax Wanderers with just 21 points left for grabs.
Yet, what that shows is that these next seven games aren’t as much about pushing for the playoffs, but instead about building momentum and continuing to progress as a group. Of course, they’d love to win games within that process, but their big focus remains the semi-finals of the Canadian Championship, where they’ll take on Atlético Ottawa later this month with a 3-1 aggregate lead in their pockets ahead of that leg two matchup.
The best way to prepare for that matchup is to find some form in league play, and beating a Valour side just ahead of them in the table is a good place to start, as they look to turn things around from a run of six defeats in their past seven league games - a run that started with a loss to this Valour team in interim head coach Martin Nash’s first game in charge.
“There are no easy games in this league, so we're going to have to come and fight for every inch of the pitch, and we're going to have to come to battle,” Nash said this week. “Our guys are prepared, they're up for it, and I think it'll be a good yardstick to where we've come over the last seven games.”
As for Valour, though, while they don’t have to worry about elimination yet this week, this definitely feels like a must-win match for them, especially after their 1-1 draw with sixth-place Pacific FC at home last weekend.
Now, they sit 13 points behind fifth-place, which is a pretty big deficit to overcome, but not an impossible one quite yet.
They’re going to need to turn around their form quickly, as they’re winless in their past 5 games, but a game against the one side below them in the table is a good place to start.
Given that two of Valour’s victories have come against this Vancouver side, picking up another win would be a nice way to start the final round, as they look to chase their first-ever playoff berth in club history.
“They’re a good side, and a side we respect, as we know how hard games have been against them,” Valour’s head coach, Philip Dos Santos, said of Vancouver. “They're very aggressive on and off the ball, and are one of the most challenging teams to play against in the league because of that.”
“They accept the chaos in which the game can be played - sometimes it goes your way, sometimes it doesn't, but it makes them a very difficult team to play against.”
In terms of player availability, Vancouver noted that they’re yet to rule any players out for this game, although they have a few players who are doubtful to feature, while Valour ruled out two players - defender Rocco Romeo and midfielder Safwane Mlah.
3 THINGS TO WATCH
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Can Vancouver show progress 6 weeks into the Nash era? Interestingly, this game marks a bit of a full circle moment for Vancouver interim head coach, Martin Nash, who took charge of his first Vancouver FC match exactly six weeks ago, coming against Valour FC at Willoughby Community Park on a Friday night. On that day, Vancouver played well, but unfortunately fell in a 3-1 defeat. Since then, though, they’ve progressed significantly, even if the results haven’t shown it - they’ve picked up just one win in six league games under Nash, coming away to the Halifax Wanderers at the beginning of August, along with their 3-1 win vs. Atlético Ottawa in leg one of the Canadian Championship. Because of that, while this Valour game will be a good chance for them to show how far they’ve come in the past six weeks, they’ll also want to use it to prove that they’re better than their record indicates. No matter how long their odds are to reach the playoffs, they’ll want to fight for that as long as it’s mathematically possible for them to do so, and even when that’s no longer the case, they want to ensure they finish the year not in last place. To stick with that latter point, this game is a crucial six-pointer for Vancouver with Valour just five points ahead of them, so perhaps that’s the motivation they’ll need to find their feet, giving them something to build off of as they get set to tackle a crucial stretch, both in league and cup play.
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Valour looking to enjoy being on the ball in last seven games: Through 21 games this season, Valour have both struggled to find the net and keep the ball out of theirs, as they’ve scored a league-low 21 goals and have conceded a league-high 48 goals. Yet, that helps explain their struggles - they’ve often been too rigid in the opponent's final third, but too loose in their own third. Because of that, they’ve issued themselves a challenge over the last seven games - to be a bit more expressive on the ball, taking more risks in possession. While that could be dangerous given their defensive struggles, of course, sometimes being more aggressive on the ball can be a good way to help keep the ball further away from one’s goal - as the saying goes, a good offence can be a good defence. Right now, with neither clicking for this Valour side, they’re looking for a spark, and perhaps finding a bit of joy offensively can be what they need to get that balance they’ve struggled to find all season long, on both sides of the ball.
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Who will find calm amid the chaos in fourth matchup of 2025: In three matchups between these two teams this season, the one constant has been chaos - each of those games have finished 3-1, with Valour claiming two 3-1 wins and Vancouver one. Given that Valour has won a game both home and away, the pattern suggests that Vancouver is due a 3-1 victory in this game, for those who believe in symmetry - but while that’s not guaranteed to happen, it feels like this should be another entertaining, chaotic match. Certainly, from a fan perspective, that wouldn’t be the worst thing that could happen, but what that means is that both teams will need to try to manage that chaos, especially in terms of avoiding mistakes at the back. Given their respective defensive records, with Valour conceding 48 goals and Vancouver 46, that’s easier said than done, perhaps explaining why these games have been so high-scoring and chaotic, but that at least gives an idea of what they’ll want to avoid doing in this match - sloppy mistakes.
PROJECTED STARTING XIs
Vancouver FC: Irving; Dada-Luke, Campagna, O'Connor, Enyou; Fry, Norman Jr.; Campbell, Mezquida, Bah; Mbongue
Valour FC: Gazdov; Twardek, Facchineri, Konincks, Egwu, Antonoglou; Alarcón, Ohin; Figueiredo, Froese; Morgan
ALL-TIME SERIES
Vancouver wins: 4 || Valour wins: 4 || Draws: 3
Last meeting:
July 25, 2025 — Vancouver FC 1-3 Valour FC
KEY QUOTES
“I hope (to win), but you never know, all you can do is show up and play for 90 minutes. We've been struggling a little bit with that, at least in terms of staying concentrated and giving up some untimely and poor goals from individual errors, and sometimes even team errors. We’ve just got to be a lot cleaner across the 90 minutes than we have been.” – Vancouver FC interim head coach Martin Nash
“We've walked away from a lot of these matches saying that we played really well, but we didn't come away with the results that we wanted. Playing well, developing players and developing the team are important, but at the end of the day, we have to get those results, so I think that it's time that we finally show that these good performances can get us points.” – Vancouver FC defender Aidan O’Connor
“I want progression from the individuals who are going to step on the field. Looking at our last game, I think that we lacked a little bit of aggression going forward. We seemed to be in control for many moments of that game, but went too fast from a moment of control to a moment where we were being put under pressure, and sometimes those moments happen because, instead of going forward with the ball, you're recycling the ball in moments where you need to be a bit more aggressive, getting more numbers in the box and creating ruptures behind the back line of the opposition. I want to see the team play freely when it comes to attacking, and not be too concerned with how many players are left behind. Because if we do the job on the ball, we don't need to think about the defensive balance. I want us to be progressive, and I want us to be a bit freer, because I think that's what was missing for us in the last game.” – Valour FC head coach Philip Dos Santos.
“In my head, seven games is a long time, so it’s all about (this game). It’s a lot easier to mentally keep yourself there and fresh if you don't get lost looking at the long picture and the long run. Coach always says that the math is done at the end of the season, so we just need a result tomorrow. It’s always great to go play against another team within this league, so I'm just excited for that.” – Valour FC defender Gianfranco Facchineri.
