PREVIEW: FC Edmonton vs. Pacific FC — Match #53 (ComeOn! Match of the Week)

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FC Edmonton and Pacific FC will square off for a third time this season on Saturday, at Clarke Stadium in the ComeOn! Match of the Week. They come into this match in contrasting form, as the Eddies have won two of their last three matches, their first two wins of the season, while Pacific haven't won a CPL game since May 14 -- against Edmonton. It took until the 12th match of the season for Alan Koch's side to pick up that elusive first victory, but as his side continue to grow as a unit they've put in some strong performances. They came close to that first victory of the year on a couple of occasions, and after finally beating Atlético Ottawa for the first tally in the win column, have looked a confident bunch. They followed that win with a 3-1 loss to Cavalry FC, but certainly weren't as outclassed as the scoreline might suggest. Then, on Canada Day, the Eddies picked up a massive 3-0 win over York United -- a match where three goals wasn't a true reflection of how good they were. Koch said after the match that he thought it was his team's best performance of the season, but that they probably should have scored a few more. Pacific FC, meanwhile are in an uncharacteristic winless run that has seen them go eight matches without a victory, seven in the Canadian Premier League and one in the Canadian Championship. They've drawn four of those seven matches, and hang onto third place in the CPL table entering this weekend's action, but if they don't figure it out soon they're in danger of being left behind. Forge FC play York United on Friday night and if The Hammers pick up all three points would pass Pacific in the table with two matches in hand, but with Pacific still to play on Saturday. High-flying Atlético Ottawa and Cavalry FC are also ahead of the Tridents with games in hand, while HFX Wanderers are only three points back as well. They put in a strong shift in their last match, a 3-3 draw with Cavalry FC in one of the best matches in CPL history, but again dropped points from a winning position, and at home as well. Djenairo Daniels gave Pacific the lead just six minutes in, before Gianni Dos Santos doubled their advantage with a few minutes left in the first half. With the seconds ticking away before the interval Daan Klomp gave Cavalry the momentum boost going into the second 45, heading home a cross from Jose Escalante in stoppage time. Escalante himself would tie things up at 2-2 with a free kick goal, the June Goal of the Month in the CPL, before Aribim scored his sixth goal in six games to complete the comeback and give Cavalry the lead. Alejandro Diaz responded with a header of his own in the 74th minute, rescuing a point for his side in a hectic match at Starlight Stadium that would end 3-3. A criticism that Tridents head coach James Merriman has had of his side in recent weeks is that they haven't started the game as well as he would've liked, perhaps lacking the urgency needed at the beginning of a match, but that Cavalry match was a step in the right direction. These two sides have historically been evenly matched, Pacific has won five meetings to Edmonton's four, with four draws between them as well. Their first meeting of 2022 ended in a 0-0 draw at Clarke Stadium, while Pacific won the second fixture 2-1 at Starlight Stadium thanks to goals from Diaz and Josh Heard.

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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!, . All CPL matches are available to stream on OneSoccer, or on TELUS Optik TV Channel 980.

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3 THINGS TO WATCH​

• Wesley Timoteo a key contributor in recent Eddies successes: Like several FC Edmonton players, Wesley Timoteo started the season as a trialist with FC Edmonton, but has become a key contributor under Alan Koch. The 22-year-old Canadian attacker was pivotal in their 3-0 win over York United on July 1, providing a pair of assists, and had he not missed his first half penalty would have scored a goal himself as well. After picking up two more in that game vs York, Timoteo is currently tied atop the leaderboard for assists in the Canadian Premier League, equal with Valour FC's Sean Rea on five assists. He's scored twice as well this season, one of Edmonton's best offensive threats in 2022. Timoteo is one of several success stories coming out of Edmonton this season, with Gabriel Bitar another example of a player that is rewarding The Eddies for putting faith in him. "Wesley is one of the positive byproducts of this whole situation that we've gone through," said Koch on Friday. "I'm proud of him (Timoteo), but I'm proud of everybody in our group that's really embracing the opportunity that we've presented to them." For more on Timoteo's impressive season thus far, check out this piece by CanPL.ca's Mitchell Tierney.
• Both teams looking to begin second half of the season on a positive note: Both FC Edmonton and Pacific FC will be playing their 15th games of the season on Saturday afternoon, becoming the first two teams to begin the second half of their 2022 CPL seasons. The two sides have had interesting starts to the year, with FC Edmonton winless in 11 to begin the season before winning two of three since, and Pacific winning five of their first seven matches, but failing to register a victory since. Saturday's match is an important one for both sides. Pacific are desperate to get back in the win column and begin to climb back up the table that they dominated for the first month of the season, while Edmonton are looking to climb off the bottom of the table (which they can do with a win and a York United loss/draw on Friday) and continue their recent surge. "We take it one match at a time," said Pacific boss James Merriman on Friday. "We took confidence from the way that we approached the game against Cavalry and we want to build off that tomorrow. We've trained really well, the group is hungry, they're motivated. They know that it hasn't been good enough the past few weeks and we're not happy with where we're at after such a strong start. There's a lot of games left in the season, and we're just halfway through so I expect a big performance."
• Manny Aparicio back on the sidelines, but Pacific otherwise back to full strength: Pacific FC's star midfielder Manny Aparicio finally made it back onto the pitch against Cavalry FC last week, but it didn't last long. After an injury forced him to miss several matches for the Tridents, an early injury to Djenairo Daniels in the Cavalry match saw head coach James Merriman bring Aparicio off the bench. Just nine minutes after checking into the match in his awaited return, Aparicio was involved in a scrap after Pacific took exception to a challenge from David Norman Jr, and both he and Aparicio were given straight red cards. Usually a straight red card for violent conduct is accompanied by a three-match suspension, but both teams appealed the decision and had their spells on the sideline shortened to two matches. Aparicio will next be available in CPL action for the rematch between the two sides on July 22. Aside from Aparicio being absent, Pacific are at full strength, according to Merriman.

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