Match Preview | Ottawa Fury FC vs Saint Louis FC | Aper=C3=A7u
August 23, 2019 - United Soccer League Championship (USL)
Ottawa Fury FC News Release
Week 25
Ottawa Fury FC vs Saint Louis FC
Kickoff: Saturday, August 24- 2:00 p.m.
TD Place Stadium, Ottawa, ON
OTTAWA - Ottawa Fury FC are coming in back home at TD Place Stadium with wind in their sails, following a very good result on the road last week against Loudoun United FC, which resulted in a great 3-1 win for the club. Visiting the Fury will be Saint Louis FC, a team that was not a part of the Eastern Conference last season, which means the two sides have not played against one another in a very long time. This game will be a bit more personally important to Fury FC midfielder Wal Fall, as he will be facing the club that he lined up for last season. On the other side, Saint Louis FC have not won any of their last four games, which means they will be coming in Ottawa hungry for a win.
Weekly Storylines:
Ottawa Fury FC are coming off a great 3-1 win over Loudoun United FC on the road, where they scored at least three goals for the second time in their last four USL games.
Although the team was held at around 50% of possession, they still managed to shoot 18 times towards the opposing goal, with eight being on target.
Fury FC haven't lost a game in the USL since July 27th, and they will look to keep this going against Saint Louis FC.
8th-place Fury is now seven points off the 5th position, but with two games in hand in comparison to North Carolina FC.
This will be the first encounter between the two teams this season. The two sides also did not play against one-another last season.
This game will mark the very first time Wal Fall plays against his old side, ever since joining Ottawa from Saint Louis FC back in January.
Saint Louis's overall record in the Eastern Conference for this season is 6W-6D-8L.
Fury FC has a record of 6W-4D-1L at home this season.
The club has scored three or more goals three different times at home over the course of this season.
Fury FC youngster Cameron Shaw made his professional debut on Saturday on the road against Loudoun United FC, coming on in the 81st minute for Hadji Barry.
18-year old Shaw was signed to a Fury FC Academy contract on July 3rd, 2019.
Ottawa's new signing Hadji Barry is still looking to score his first goal in a Fury FC uniform.
Scouting Saint Louis FC: It's an odd year, 2019, so that means Saint Louis FC is in the Eastern Conference again, but this year it enters having advanced to the USL Cup Playoffs for the first time in its history and seemingly on a positive upward path to contention in its new surroundings. Led by Head Coach Anthony Pulis, STLFC was one of the tougher teams to beat in the Western Conference a season ago, falling just nine times in the regular season as it clinched a playoff spot before the final game of the season.
If Saint Louis is to take the next step and contend in the East this season, though, it will likely need to become more prolific in front of goal. Only one team to reach the postseason - Nashville SC - scored fewer goals than STLFC's 44 tallies, with Kyle Greig carrying the attack for much of the season as he neared 50 regular-season goals for his career. The side has looked to address that with another batch of newcomers that includes Colorado Rapids forward Caleb Calvert and Tulsa Roughnecks FC attacking midfielder Joaquin Rivas. Should youngster Albert Dikwa take another step forward and Kadeem Dacres produce more consistently, Saint Louis could be far more dangerous in 2019. (via USL Championship).
What they're saying
Head Coach Nikola Popovic
"It was a good performance at Loudoun, and now we have to do the same thing against Saint Louis, which will be a challenge. We have to be able to come here and perform at the same level and get the three points, which would be important to us in the standings."
"We know that they are a direct team that likes to play with long balls and cross the ball many times in the box who leaves a lot to their set plays, so we have to be very focused in all situations because if we can stop them there, I think that could allow us to win the game."
Midfielder Wal Fall
"I'm excited to see my old teammates, I hope it'll be a good game because they have good players, they're strong on defense and they're dangerous on set pieces. We will see if the better team wins, and I hope it's us."
"We are confident from our win in Loudoun and I think we can carry this confidence over to Ottawa and hopefully get the three points."
HOW TO WATCH
LIVE STREAM: OttawaFuryFC.com
TWITTER: Follow @OTTAWAFURYFC for LIVE updates #OTTvSTL #ForTheFury
TICKETS: Get your tickets at OttawaFuryFC.com
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