September 22, 2022...Preview: York United vs. Valour FC - 2022 Match #100 (from canpl.ca website)

PREVIEW: York United vs. Valour FC — 2022 Match #100
2022-09-22
by ALEXANDRE GANGUÉ-RUZIC, CANPL.CA CONTRIBUTOR (@ALEXGANGUERUZIC)
CANPL  MATCH PREVIEW
2022 CPL Regular Season — Match #100
York United vs. Valour FC
September 22, 2022 at 6:30 p.m. CT/7:30 p.m. ET
York Lions Stadium in York, Ontario
Watch Live: OneSoccer.ca & TELUS Ch. 980 // 

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After a weekend without much movement in the Canadian Premier League, it’s set the table nicely for 
a crucial weekend of action in the league over the next couple of days. 

Kicking off that action will be on Friday, when York United hosts Valour FC at York Lions Stadium, 
the first of four games this weekend. 

A game in which York can be officially eliminated from playoff contention should they lose, draw, 
or if Pacific FC wins on Sunday, while Valour looks to further cement their spot in the top 4 and keep 
their regular season title hopes alive, there’s undoubtedly a lot at stake for both sides in this one. 

As a result, an intense matchup is expected to be on the cards, as the two sides that have picked 
up the most points over their last five matches get set to do battle. 

To begin, there are the hosts, York, who despite teetering on the edge of playoff elimination for 
the last few weeks, haven’t let that affect their play, winning six and drawing one of their 
last 10 games, picking up more points over that stretch (19) than they did over their 
first 15 matches (11). 

Because of that, they’ve quickly become a team that most don’t want to face right now. Having 
built a nice nucleus of attacking talent up front, led by Osaze De Rosario and Mo Babouli, they’ve 
done well to put their early-season offensive troubles behind them, while also maintaining the defensive 
solidity that they became known for in their earlier games. 

Therefore, while they’re coming off of a tough result in their last game out, a 0-0 draw at home 
against the Halifax Wanderers, they’re eager to get back to winning ways once again, maintaining 
that strong run of form. 

“I just want to see a little bit more fight,” York head coach, Martin Nash, said ahead of this match. 
“I thought we just didn’t want it enough last week. We played well at times, but we just didn’t want 
it enough, so I just want to see that little bit more fight tomorrow, and I think the guys have 
trained well this week and are up for it.”

Meanwhile, Valour heads to Ontario looking to build off of a good run of their own, as they’ve lost 
just two of their last nine games, winning five and drawing two, really helping fuel this push. 

Led by a strong team-first approach, one that involves prioritizing defensive responsibility and 
a balanced offensive system, that’s allowed them to rattle off wins as they have. 


As a result, while they’re also fresh off of a draw, a 1-1 battle with Atlético Ottawa in a game 
they also probably want back given that they led in the second half, they’ll be looking to conjure 
up what they’ve shown over the last few months. 

“If we want to be in that playoff spot, these are the types of games that we have to go and get 
the points from,” Valour head coach, Phil Dos Santos said this week. “And hopefully maximize the points, 
because right now the margin for error is becoming smaller and smaller.”

Either way, one thing is for sure – both teams are in good form, and both teams know how important 
a win would be, meaning that a competitive clash should be on the cards if all goes as planned. 

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

Valour looking for quadruple over York: Interestingly, Valour has fancied playing York this year. 
Quite a lot, actually. In fact, heading into this game, Valour has won all three of their previous 
matchups against York in 2022, winning them by a combined score of 6-1, as they’ve seemingly had 
their number in all of those games. Led by Sean Rea, who has three goals and two assists against 
York this year, to their defence, who have mostly kept York frustrated and at bay, Valour has just 
seemed to find another gear whenever they play York, and will look to do so once again. At the same 
time, they know that this York test isn’t the same one it was before. Now sitting as one of the hottest 
teams in the league, especially after the signing of Babouli, the York attack will offer a lot more 
resistance than it might’ve in those previous games, as teams around the league have quickly learned. 
Therefore, if Valour is to keep this run going and make it four for four, ensuring that they don’t 
cut any corners defensively will be crucial, because if not, this new-look York team will cause them 
problems, as they try to ensure that they don’t get swept in this season’s series. “Yeah, we’ll look 
at those games that we played against them, but we won’t make it too big of a factor when it comes 
to what’s going to come at us tomorrow,” Dos Santos said. “For me, it’s a different York, and the game 
we’ll play tomorrow will have nothing to do with the three games we played against them previously.”

Translating home form to the road a priority for Valour:  Yet, for all of the success that Valour 
has had as of late, it’s worth noting that a lot of it has come due to a scheduling quirk, as they’ve 
played eight of their last 10 games at home. There, they’ve won five of those games, and drawn two 
others, losing just across that homestand, showing how good they’ve been in those games. On the road, 
however, it’s been a different story, as not only did they lose the two road games they’ve played 
over that 10-game span, but haven’t won on the road since late June, when they beat Forge 
at Tim Hortons Field June 29th. Therefore, as they embark on this three-game road trip to close 
out their season, finding a way to change that is imperative. Currently sitting as the team who has 
picked up the fewest points on the road of any of the teams in the top five, finding a way to turn 
that around could be the difference between them making the playoffs for the first time and missing out. 
For what it’s worth, Dos Santos feels that it’s not necessarily something his team has done differently 
in their approach, but whatever it is, changing that has to be a must for his team right now. 
“We’ve had solid performances on the road, so for us, the message is the same on the road or at home, 
we need to play our game,” Dos Santos said. “We need to stay consistent, we need to limit mistakes, 
we need to understand the different moments of the game and make the right interpretations 
and decisions in those moments and right now, as when you get to this stretch where you’re also 
in survival mode, every point is so precious, so I think home or away can’t be a factor. We need to go 
out there, it’s not like we’re playing in environments that are intimidating, and we need to embrace 
the moment and understand everything that is related to our sole motivation and desire to be 
in the playoffs, and desire to make history for the club.”

Last home game for York a chance to reverse tough home record: Meanwhile, on their end, York is also 
looking to turn around similar struggles – but in their case, it’s their home record, which has been 
less than stellar, sitting with the second-fewest points from their home games in the league. As a result, 
as they enter this game, their last home match of the season, turning around that record is a must, 
for many reasons. Firstly, they’ll want to do so just to keep their playoff hopes alive, but there’s 
also the desire to give this York crowd a win and some goals to cheer about, too, sending them home 
with a good vibe ahead of next year. They’ve made up for some of their struggles at home with a good 
record on the road, to be fair, but winning home games is crucial if one is to make the playoffs, 
as well as keep the fans engaged, which is why York will want to ensure they get the job done in this 
game. As they also keep one eye on the future, they know how important it will be to get better at home 
going forward, and want to use this game as a springboard toward that future. “Yeah, I think it’s big,” 
Nash said. “It’s been a long season, yes, but we haven’t been as good at home as I would have hoped. 
We’ve been better at home lately, which is good and trending in the right direction, and we want to set 
that up for next year. We want to finish strong at home, for ourselves as well as our fans.”

ALL-TIME SERIES
York United wins: 4 || Valour FC wins: 6 || Draws: 1

Previous match:

August 7th, 2022 — Valour FC 2-0 York United

KEY QUOTES
“Our state of mind recently has been just trying to go for every game that we can. As I’ve been saying 
for weeks, three points are the only thing we’re going for now, draws don’t really help us, and we 
threw everything at Halifax at the end of the game last week to try to get that win, but it didn’t come. 
(Now), I just want to see some progress, for us to keep improving, keep working hard and try and finish 
as high at the table as possible. And if that’s the playoffs, great, and if it’s not, at least we can 
hold our heads up high that we give everything we can until the end.” — York United head coach Martin Nash. 

“We can score in multiple ways, we can score in possession, in open play, in transition moments, our set 
plays have always been a threat throughout the year, we had the mandate to win that area of our throughout 
the season, to score considerably more than we concede. There will be scoring opportunities, and we’ll 
have a chance to score, and I don’t really care who it is, I just want the players to keep being there 
first for the team, and then wherever scores we go and celebrate with them.” — Valour FC head coach 
Phil Dos Santos.

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