The hottest team in the Canadian Premier League is back at home this weekend for a test against a west coast foe, as Atlético Ottawa welcome Pacific FC to the nation's capital.
There's no denying the form Atleti have begun the season with; they're top of the table after four games with a 3-1-0 unbeaten record and a league-best 12 goals scored. The Diego Mejía era has begun in style, with a new-look Atlético attack that seems to be causing opposing teams all sorts of problems.
A week ago, Ottawa pulled off arguably their most impressive triumph yet, beating reigning champions Cavalry FC 3-1 on the road via a chaotic second half that saw the Cavs concede twice and have a man sent off within the space of about five minutes.
Atleti were also in action on Tuesday night in the Canadian Championship, where they hosted League1 Ontario side Scrosoppi FC. Despite some squad rotation, especially in attack and midfield, Ottawa advanced comfortably, winning 2-0 thanks to goals from Kevin Dos Santos and Sam Salter.
All that's to say, this is quite the test for Pacific FC, who sit fifth in the league table with just four points so far. They won their season opener at home against Valour, but have since struggled to put the ball in the net. Last week in the Salish Sea Derby against Vancouver FC, the Tridents fell behind but had a lifeline when former Pacific full-back Kunle Dada-Luke got sent off. However, Pacifc scored just once in a frustrating second half and split the points with their B.C. rivals.
It won't be an easy outing on Saturday for Pacific, who lost their only other trip outside B.C. so far this year -- a 3-1 defeat in Halifax. What's tougher is the fact that this game will kick off at 10 a.m. PT, meaning an early start for the west coast side. That said, head coach James Merriman pointed out that his team typically trains at that time during the week, so they should have no problem being up for it.
Although much has changed in both of these teams since last season, a lot of players on both sides will know their opponent well. Ottawa and Pacific played each other six times in 2024, including a two-legged Canadian Championship quarter-final which Pacific won on aggregate. In CPL play, Atleti won both of their away games at Pacific, while the Tridents won one in Ottawa and they drew the final meeting in September.
Several of Ottawa's stars have deep connections to Pacific as well; Manny Aparicio and Amer Didić played several years under Merriman on Vancouver Island -- Aparicio won a championship there -- and Noah Verhoeven was also a Pacific FC original in 2019. Meanwhile, Pacific forward Ronan Kratt is an Ottawa native, while goalkeeper Sean Melvin spent two years with Atleti.
The news on the injury front is fairly positive for both sides; Atleti boss Mejía revealed Thursday that Noah Abatneh does remain sidelined with injury, but Brett Levis has returned to full training. Pacific are only missing Brazilian midfielder Daniel De Pauli, who is still a week away from return according to James Merriman.
3 THINGS TO WATCH
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Can Pacific find spark in final third? Through four games, Pacific have scored four goals -- and half were in their first game. Adding goals was a major priority in the off-season, after the Tridents scored a league-low 27 a year ago, but so far the ball still isn't going in as often as they'd like. Still, Pacific are third in the CPL in touches in the penalty area with 90, the trouble has just been converting that into shots on target from dangerous areas. There's no shortage of creative talent, with Marco Bustos, Josh Heard, Dario Zanatta and Ronan Kratt all building chemistry together. However, the tricky part for Pacific will be determining which of those players will be the central focal point at the front of the attack.
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Young Atleti back three faces test: A theme of Atlético Ottawa's early success has been the effectiveness of their back three, which has been solid defensively and excellent in possession. What's most impressive, though, is that Ottawa's U-21 players have been key contributors to that. While Didić is the veteran and one of the CPL's best defenders, he has been freed up to use his passing range on the right of the trio because of how safe they are with the likes of Loïc Cloutier, Tyr Walker-Duhaney, Noah Abatneh and Sergei Kozlovskiy in the middle. Though Abatneh remains injured, Mejía will certainly keep his defence young this week; why change what's been working so well?
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Wide areas offer attacking avenues: Atlético Ottawa have had a lot of scucess early this year with their direct, aggressive attack down the wide areas. They've been using Gabriel Antinoro and Kevin Dos Santos as wingbacks with more attacking freedom than traditional fullbacks, which has allowed both to enjoy plenty of time on the ball and involvement in goalscoring moves. However, Pacific have an excellent defence, and some of the CPL's best fullbacks to counter that threat. Kadin Chung on the right will have his hands full with either Antinoro or Levis, which might mitigate some of his own attacking ability -- unless, of course, Pacific can exploit Ottawa's attack-minded wide strategy and get the likes of Chung and Christian Greco-Taylor on the left to pin the wingbacks and get behind them.
PROJECTED STARTING XIs
Atlético Ottawa: Ingham; Didić, Cloutier, Walker-Duhaney; Antinoro, Castro, Aparicio, Dos Santos; Rodríguez, Salter, Tabla
Pacific FC: Anchor; Chung, Ndom, Machado, Greco-Taylor; Browning Lagerfeldt, Young; Bustos, Heard, Kratt; Zanatta
ALL-TIME SERIES
Atlético Ottawa wins: 6 || Pacific FC wins: 7 || Draws: 7
Last meeting:
Sept. 22, 2024 — Atlético Ottawa 1-1 Pacific FC
KEY QUOTES
"Pacific are a very good team. They press really well, they're very aggressive in that moment of matches. We will try to attack their weakness and try to have control of the game in all moments." — Atlético Ottawa head coach Diego Mejía
"In terms of the way [Ottawa] play, the way they're attacking games, it's a completely different style of play. They've started the season strong, and I think it's a perfect test for us. It's a good challenge for us right now and where we're at, and we need to be up for it. It's an opportunity for us to attack the game again and be a bit more fearless in our football." — Pacific FC head coach James Merriman