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CPL 2021 Regular Season – Game # 101
Pacific FC vs. FC Edmonton
October 26, 2021 at 10:30 p.m. ET / 7:30 p.m. PT
Starlight Stadium in Langford, British Columbia
Watch live: OneSoccer.ca & TELUS Chap. 980 // Tickets available here
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MATCH OVERVIEW
Pacific FC will return to Vancouver Island this week for a key Tuesday night clash against FC Edmonton as they continue to seek out first place in the CPL standings and home ground advantage in the upcoming playoffs. playoffs.
The Tridents will enter Starlight Stadium in second place, with a 12-6-7 record and 42 points, which puts them two behind Cavalry FC and first place. They missed an opportunity to give themselves a real advantage in the standings last Thursday night when they lost 2-1 to Cavalry away from home, but Pa-Modou Kah’s side are still very much in the running with three matches of championship to be disputed. schedule before the start of the playoffs. They officially clinched a playoff berth over the weekend thanks to results elsewhere in the league, but a lot remains at stake in these latter games with those priceless home dates in mind.
Meanwhile, FC Edmonton are hoping to get as many positive points as possible from their last three games of the season, despite having already been eliminated from the playoffs. They are currently at the bottom of the CPL table with a 5-9-11 record and 24 points, but a win over Pacific could put them in seventh place ahead of Atlético Ottawa. The Eddies had their ups and downs in October, having beaten Pacific earlier in the month and shared points with Cavalry, before losing 4-3 at home to Ottawa and drawing 1-1 on the road. against York United. They will enter this game well rested, with this game against York on Sunday 17th October, so coach Alan Koch will want to see his side fight well as they play their final road game of the 2021 season.
“If you look at where we started and where we are now, you can see that there has been an evolution, and that is really all we want to see,” Alan Koch said on Monday of the progress of his team. “We’re going to hope to see the same thing again tomorrow, we want to see the same thing the next game, because we continue to use these opportunities to maximize the time we have together, because we haven’t had a pre-season together, we didn’t really have a proper offseason last year.
“I looked the other day, FC Edmonton last year finished 10 points from a playoff berth in a seven-game season. I think we’re 10 points from a playoff spot today in a 28-game season. I think that shows how we’ve evolved and how we’re closing the gap, and that’s what we’re trying to do. We are trying to close the gap, every day.
The meetings between these two parties have been quite interesting this year; in four games, both teams have won once, also with two draws between them. For two teams at opposite ends of the table, there was little to separate them. Still, Pacific coach Kah isn’t worried about previous results, telling reporters on Monday he still believes his club have been the better of the two in the four games they’ve played.
“For me, it’s more about us, like always. We didn’t take our chances and we gave them opportunities… I don’t think they really broke us in any of the games we’ve played if you do a thorough analysis.
Pacific will have a chance to come back to the top spot on Tuesday, and they’ll be very keen to grab it.
Make your match picks before kick-off at canpl.ca/predictor get a chance to win prizes, including the grand prize of a trip to the 2021 CPL Final!
All CPL matches are available for streaming on OneSoccer, or on TELUS Optik TV Channel 980.
3 THINGS TO LOOK FOR:
- The set piece is a concern for the Pacific? A major factor in Pacific’s recent results has been the number of times they’ve conceded on set pieces. Four of the last five goals they’ve conceded have come from dead ball situations, including the Cavalry’s two goals last Thursday. There probably wasn’t much they could do on David Norman Jr.’s free-kick, but they also allowed another goal from a corner, after both Valor and HFX scored in the same situation in games. previous ones. The Tridents defended very well in open play, but for some reason the teams were able to beat them in the air on those set pieces. Yet Pa-Modou Kah doesn’t panic about it. “Me, I don’t worry about set pieces and stuff like that, that’s part of the game,” he said on Monday. “You’re going to have teams that are going to capitalize on you on these things, and then for us it’s more about doing what we do best. For us, yes, four of the last five were set pieces, but am I worried? No.”
- Ongaro is looking to extend his streak against PFC: Easton Ongaro, the Eddies’ top scorer and possibly a Golden Boot contender with 11 goals this year, has an excellent record against Pacific in his career, with eight goals in nine games against them in the past three. years. In fact, he’s scored in each of his last five games against the Tridents, including all four this season. He is currently in excellent form, scoring seven goals in his last nine games, including a superb strike last time against York United. Pacific will have to keep a close eye on the imposing striker, especially those set pieces, if they are to stop him this time around. “I don’t think it has anything to do with (Pacific),†Alan Koch said this week. “It just has to do with him; what have we played them five times? That’s probably a huge percentage of the games we’ve played this season, so if he’s going to score goals he’s going to score goals in the games he’s playing and we have to play a lot against Pacific. I don’t think it has anything to do with their individual makeup or their collective makeup.
- Pacific team selection questions: With star striker and perennial MVP contender Marco Bustos returning to full health – he came off the bench for Pacific in the last two games after missing around two months with injury – the squad selection becomes a little more delicate for Kah. Once Bustos can get started, it will be fascinating to see if they change anything in their roster. Josh Heard’s top three, Alejandro DÃaz and Terran Campbell have thrived in Bustos’ absence, with Campbell moving to play the right-wing role that Bustos himself typically occupies. So, Kah will have choices to make: does he drop one of the three to launch Bustos? Does he keep Bustos in the super-sub role for a bit longer? Or, maybe, can they play with the four on the pitch? “You always want to get your best players back,†Kah said. “When (Bustos) got injured, other players came in, that’s why you have a team… Then when you get your best players back, those are happy days for a coach because you have to make different choices. . You hear people say, “Oh, can they get the four players in there”, but we played with the four. We have equaled the cavalry 0-0 by facing our four players in front, so we also have the capacity to do that. “
ALL TIME SERIES
FC Edmonton wins: 4 || Pacific FC win: 3 || Prints: 3
Previous match:
October 6, 2021 – FC Edmonton 2-1 Pacific FC
KEY QUOTES
“We have racked up points against all the teams in this league… We just haven’t found consistency yet. I think we’ve shown that we can compete with the best teams, but part of our evolution shows that we can do it every week.– FC Edmonton Head Coach Alan Koch
“Obviously we all want to play at home. But to win, it doesn’t matter where you play… You can say, “Oh, I want a field advantageâ€, but then what if you get it and you lose? When it comes to gaming, it doesn’t matter at home or away. The W is the only thing that matters. “ – Pacific FC Head Coach Pa-Modou Kah
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