September 8, 2022...Preview: York United FC vs. FC Edmonton - 2022 Match #92 (from canpl.ca website)
PREVIEW: York United FC vs. FC Edmonton — 2022 Match #92 2022-09-08 by BENEDICT RHODES, CANPL.CA CONTRIBUTOR (@BTFR17) 2022 CPL Regular Season — Match #92 York United vs. FC Edmonton September 9, 2022 at 7:30 p.m. ET York Lions Stadium in Toronto, Ontario Watch Live: OneSoccer.ca & TELUS Ch. 980 // In addition to its website and app, OneSoccer is now available on TELUS channel 980 and on Fubo TV. Call your local cable provider to ask for OneSoccer today. This weekend’s Canadian Premier League action begins at York Lions Stadium on Friday night, as York United host FC Edmonton. After a difficult stretch in the middle of the season, the Nine Stripes have been in good form lately, winning five of their last eight matches, including three of their last four. That stretch, which includes wins over Cavalry FC, Forge FC, Pacific FC, HFX Wanderers and Friday’s opponents FC Edmonton, accounts for 15 of their 26 points on the season. Last time out, on September 3, they beat reigning CPL champions Pacific FC 3-1 at Starlight Stadium thanks to a big second half performance. After a strike from Kunle Dada-Luke gave The Tridents a 1-0 advantage going into halftime, York United scored a trio of second half goals, and probably could or even should have had a few more. Mo Babouli tied things up in the 48th minute for York, before Osaze De Rosario and Sebastian Gutierrez found the back of the net to secure three points on the road. FC Edmonton are in good form as well, and are unbeaten in their last three matches. After a narrow 3-2 loss to York United on August 14, The Eddies travelled to Winnipeg and drew 1-1 with high-flying Valour FC. From there they returned home to Edmonton and picked up their third win of the season, beating HFX Wanderers 3-2, before drawing 0-0 in the nation’s capital with Atlético Ottawa. As mentioned, these sides only met a few weeks ago at this same venue — a match that York United won 3-2. Ronan Kratt gave the home side the lead ten minutes in, but Edmonton’s Gabriel Bitar scored just after the hour mark to tie things up. Azriel Gonzalez put Edmonton into the lead with a diving header in the 78th minute, but his goal would be cancelled out by Lisandro Cabrera’s equalizer just two minutes later. York then went on to complete the comeback and take all three points with a 3-1 victory, after Jordan Wilson heading the ball home from a corner. While York aren’t mathematically eliminated from playoff contention but face an uphill battle, sitting ten points back of fourth-placed Valour FC in sixth entering this weekend’s action. Pacific FC are also in between them, and are just one point back of Valour. FC Edmonton, meanwhile, are eliminated and sit at the bottom of the table. Make your match picks prior to kickoff at canpl.ca/predictor for a chance to win prizes, including the grand prize of a trip to the 2022 CPL Final! To learn more about ComeOn!, click here. All CPL matches are available to stream on OneSoccer, or on TELUS Optik TV Channel 980. 3 THINGS TO WATCH Mo Babouli having a strong start to life with York: When York United announced the signing of former Forge FC and Toronto FC attacker Mo Babouli, there was understandably a lot of excitement. Scoring goals has been a problem for The Nine Stripes this season, and having already proven himself in the CPL with Forge, there were high expectations for Babouli, and it’s fair to say that he’s met them. Despite only playing four matches for York, one of which was a cameo off the bench, Babouli is already tied for second on team scoring with two goals. He’s already scored against his former club Forge, and found the back of the net a second time last weekend against Pacific FC. His head coach Martin Nash has been impressed with what he’s seen so far from his new star attacker. “He’s come in and hit the ground running,” Nash said on Thursday. “He’s been fantastic off the pitch, great with the guys, he’s fit in seamlessly for the group. He’s been massive for us on and off the field, he’s been a breath of fresh air and someone we needed to connect our attack, and also another senior player off the pitch that helps the other players.” Youthfulness a key factor in both squads: York United and FC Edmonton possess two of the youngest squads in the Canadian Premier League, and at times it has shown. Both are in the top three in the Canadian Under-21 Minutes department, with FC Edmonton picking up 2,707 so far this season and York United providing an incredible 5,671 — far and away the most in the CPL, nearly 3,000 more than second-place HFX Wanderers. Maturity and the ability to do certain things mentally — namely close out matches, or get themselves back into matches — have lacked at times for both squads, but as the season has gone on, both Martin Nash and Alan Koch feel as though their sides have progressed in that department. “We’re growing I think every week, we’re on a good run of form right now. We’ve been working hard as a staff and as a team to keep improving. These young players are growing up, they’re learning and we’re not making the mistakes we were making earlier in the season that were costing us points.” His FC Edmonton counterpart Alan Koch has a squad full of young players and first year pros himself, and also says that as the group has grown together and faced new challenges, they have matured as well. “I think our biggest deficiencies as a group are immaturity and inexperience,” Koch said on Wednesday. “Both of those things are youth-based, and because our players have never been in this kind of environment before. In both of those terms, I think the players have grown. They haven’t grown from being babies to old adults in the space of a few months, but there’s definitely been maturity that has grown on and off the field.” Gabriel Bitar set to return for FC Edmonton?: One of the most promising players to come out of “FC Opportunity” this season is midfielder Gabriel Bitar. The 24-year-old from Ottawa has been one of The Eddies’ best players this season, scoring four goals and adding an assist in 19 matches this season. He’s been on the sidelines for the past few matches, however, last in action at York Lions Stadium for FC Edmonton’s 3-2 defeat to York United — a match that he scored in. Eddies head coach Alan Koch told the media on Wednesday that Bitar “is close” to returning, and as of that press conference was due to get some medical testing done to see if he is able to travel to Ontario. “After seeing Gaby have a fantastic season, to have him out for the last weeks hasn’t been fun for him or for any of us, but we’re optimistic we’re going to see him on the pitch very, very soon,” said Koch. Cale Loughrey, meanwhile, is definitely out of the team having been suspended one game for yellow card accumulation. ALL-TIME SERIES York United wins: 6 || FC Edmonton wins: 2 || Draws: 5 Previous match: August 14, 2022 — York United 3-2 FC Edmonton
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