Match Preview: Atlético Ottawa vs. Vancouver FC

Sports stats



CPL Atletico Ottawa

Match Preview: Atlético Ottawa vs. Vancouver FC

October 18, 2024 - Canadian Premier League (CPL)
Atletico Ottawa News Release


On Oct. 19, all four CPL matches in The Outcome! presented by TonyBet will be played simultaneously at 4 p.m. ET/1 p.m. PT, and will each be available to watch for free at YouTube.com/OneSoccer.

There's only one order of business on Saturday for both Atlético Ottawa and Vancouver FC in their final match of the 2024 regular season: win.

Nothing less than three points would help either side, as the two teams still have a lot to fight for in this weekend's finale, as part of The Outcome! presented by TonyBet.

The hosts Ottawa have already secured their spot in the playoffs, but they still have a chance of finishing in second place, which would mean they take on regular season winners Forge FC in a qualifying semi-final for the right to host the CPL Final. Entering the weekend, Atleti sit third in the table after 27 games, with 43 points. They're two points behind second-place Cavalry FC, which means that for Ottawa to finish second, they need to beat Vancouver, and they need Cavalry to fail to beat Valour FC.

Atlético come into this game riding a bit of confidence, having beaten Forge 2-0 at Tim Hortons Field last Saturday in one of Ottawa's more impressive performances of the season.

Meanwhile, Vancouver's playoff hopes remain intact, but the margin is thin. VFC sit in sixth place with 29 points, two back of Pacific FC for the fifth and final playoff spot. So, for Vancouver to make the playoffs, they absolutely have to win in Ottawa on Saturday, plus they need Pacific to lose or draw at home against Forge FC.

The Eagles fell out of a playoff spot last weekend when Pacific beat York United, and they couldn't climb back into it as they drew 1-1 with Valour FC.

Since neither side has any control over what happens in the other simultaneous matches on Saturday afternoon, they will each be fully focused on securing all three points at TD Place.

This will be the fourth time Ottawa and Vancouver have met in 2024, and Atleti have had the upper hand. They drew 1-1 in their first matchup, but Ottawa won the next two, including a 3-0 triumph in Langley and a 1-0 win at home in early September, where Ilias Iliadis scored directly from a corner in the second minute of the game.

At this late stage of the season, no team is ever fully healthy, and both these sides are missing a couple of pieces. Ottawa will be without both Liberman Torres and Luke Singh due to suspension, while Alberto Zapater continues dealing with an injury. Tyr Walker also missed the game at Forge with a knock, but Carlos González will be hoping to get him back - especially since Atleti still need to record another 48 U-21 minutes.

One Ottawa player to expect to see make an appearance off the bench is Maxim Tissot. The Gatineau native will be honoured prematch as he plays his final regular season game before retiring at the end of this campaign.

Meanwhile, Vancouver will get both Elage Bah and Austin Ricci back from suspension, and Mikaël Cantave back from international duty with Haiti. They seem to have a fairly clean bill of health, especially after Kadin Chung and Ben Fisk returned from injury as substitutes in last week's game.

The entire CPL regular season all comes down to this weekend, when all eight teams will be playing simultaneously and, in the end, we'll finally know the five playoff teams, and each side's path to the North Star Cup.

All four games on Saturday have something interesting to keep an eye on, but with these two sides both desperate for a win, Ottawa-Vancouver might be the most exciting of them all.

All CPL and Canadian Championship matches will be broadcast live on OneSoccer, available as a linear channel on Telus' Optik TV (Channel 980) as well as online at OneSoccer.ca, through the OneSoccer app and on the fuboTV Canada platform.

Check out the Atletico Ottawa Statistics

• Discuss this story on the Canadian Premier League message board...

Canadian Premier League Stories from October 18, 2024


The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

OurSports Central