Sunday evening's Canadian Premier League doubleheader begins in Toronto, where York United will host Winnipeg foes Valour FC at York Lions Stadium.
Both sides come into this one striving to refocus on their league campaign, after heartbreaking defeats in the TELUS Canadian Championship earlier this week. York had a roller coaster battle with Atlético Ottawa, where they managed to get the tie back to even footing with 10 men before a couple of late goals eliminated them. Valour, the following night, went toe-to-toe with the Vancouver Whitecaps, scoring a very late equalizer of their own at BC Place before the Whitecaps scored a winner shortly after.
So, York and Valour both have plenty to build off as they return to CPL action.
York have been in solid form in league play recently, unbeaten in their last three — although two of those were draws, albeit against the top two sides in the table.
As it stands, York occupy the fifth and final playoff position in the CPL table, with 15 points through 13 matches. They're in a comfortable spot, six points ahead of sixth-place Pacific, but there's an identical six-point gap between York and Cavalry in fourth place, so they need to start picking up points if they want to push up the table.
Valour are in seventh place with eight points, and their last CPL outing was a 3-1 loss to the Halifax Wanderers. They scored first in that game, thanks to Kian Williams, but the Wanderers surged in the second half to win on the day.
These sides have met once already this year, and it was something of a turning point for Valour, who claimed their first win of the season back at Princess Auto Stadium. That game saw York take a 1-0 lead into halftime, only for Valour to score shortly after the break, before Kelsey Egwu added the winner in the 84th minute.
This first trip of the year to York, then, could be a crucial one for Valour as they look to go on a mid-summer run and push their way back into playoff contention.
3 THINGS TO WATCH
-
York eager to prove they belong in top half: In a league as competitive as the CPL, any team can beat anybody on a given day. However, as this year's table solidifies and the teams at the top are becoming increasingly separated from the bottom, there's pressure on a club like York to keep pace, and win their games against the sides below them. Given what happened last time they played Valour, the Nine Stripes know the importance of being at their best against Valour and won't take this game for granted. However, they have the talent to get all three points, and will be immensely disappointed if they don't.
-
Valour must turn strong starts into results: On several occasions in the past couple months, Valour have come out of the gates hot and played very well in the first half-hour of a game, only for it all to fall apart toward the end. They scored first against Halifax, and had Atlético Ottawa on the ropes a couple of weeks ago before conceding just before halftime. The challenge now will be rewarding themselves for playing well. If Valour can find an advantage in the early going against York, they need to turn that into multiple goals to avoid letting the opposition back into the game.
-
Kibato-Yeates midfield starting to click for York: One of the underrated storylines across the CPL at the moment is how York United's midfield has slowly become one of the more dominant in the league. Against Ottawa on Tuesday, Kembo Kibato and Steffen Yeates were involved in all three goals, playing aggressive, direct balls forward to find attackers running in behind. Mauro Eustáquio said that he's not sure his side will be quite that direct in every game going forward, but Kibato and Yeates have developed a remarkable chemistry that's making it very difficult to play against York. They're press-resistent thanks to both players' ability to ping a ball to anywhere higher up the pitch, but they're composed enough as well that they can cycle possession and set the tempo of a game as desired.
PROJECTED STARTING XIs
York United: Pavela; Sturing, Singh, León; Ferrazzo, Kibato, Yeates, Botello; Reid, Altobelli, Ferrin
Valour FC: Himaras; Fernandez, Egwu, Facchineri, Antonoglou; Ohin, Figueiredo; Williams, Froese, Ressurreição; Layne
ALL-TIME SERIES
York United wins: 8 || Valour wins: 10 || Draws: 3
Last meeting:
May 16, 2025 — Valour FC 2-1 York United
KEY QUOTES
"Pressure is something I don't want to hide and I don't want to run away from. What I tell the players is we're in a position where we can put pressure on ourselves in either way -- to beat the teams that are below us, and pressure to continue to push and steal points off the teams that are above us. Pressure is something I think is a privilege." -- York United head coach Mauro Eustáquio
"[York] have been very steady in the way they've played since the beginning of the season. When you get a chance to stay in your ideas and your principles, and you're obtaining a result here and there, it leads you to not make major changes and it allows you to perfect. I think today, York has perfected some ideas and is more steady in the way they're executing." -- Valour FC head coach Phillip Dos Santos
