PREVIEW: FC Edmonton vs. Valour FC – Match #20

The Canadian Premier League's CONCACAF League qualifying mini-table continues on Saturday as FC Edmonton return home at last to host Valour FC, reprising a May 4th match which ended 2-1 for the visiting Eddies.

Jeff Paulus' FC Edmonton will be hoping to find a spark at home, after failing to score in three straight games since their season-opening win. They fell 2-0 to Forge FC on Wednesday, unable to beat the surging club in Hamilton. They're now 1-2-1 overall this season, so getting their first home win on Saturday would go a long way.

With 16 days off since their last game, a 2-0 defeat at home to Forge, Valour could also use a big result. They can hardly afford to drop any more games to their CONCACAF League qualifying adversaries, having already lost to both FC Edmonton and Forge. Head coach Rob Gale would also probably like to see his side stay third in the CPL Spring season table, where they currently sit with a 2-3-0 record.

The 2019 CONCACAF League draw took place on Thursday, revealing the CPL's representative will play Antigua, a club in Guatemala, in the competition's Preliminary Round this July.

After the weekend, both clubs will set their sights on their Canadian Championship second round ties, both beginning on Wednesday, June 5. FC Edmonton are back on the road to play York9 FC (7:00 p.m. ET, on OneSoccer), while Valour head out to the east coast to take on HFX Wanderers FC (7:30 p.m. ET, 8:30 p.m. AT, on OneSoccer).

• Break the drought: Much has been made of FC Edmonton's scoring drought, which began in just their second ever game. The thing is, the Eddies have no shortage of players in their lineup who can score. That list begins with Randy Edwini-Bonsu and Tomi Ameobi, neither of whom has found the back of the net so far this season. One or both of those players need to get on the board soon if FC Edmonton wants to climb up the standings.​
• Keep it tight: Rob Gale expressed some frustration after Valour's last game, in which two critical defensive errors by his side led to the only two goals Forge needed to shut them out. Both mistakes were avoidable, and Gale said as much. It's unlikely Valour changes much in their backline personnel-wise, so defenders like Skylar Thomas and Jordan Murrell need to execute without any more mental errors.​
• Come out strong: Valour find themselves in a similar position to FC Edmonton before their match on Wednesday. The visitors are coming out of a 16-day break, while their opponents had a short turnaround from a midweek game. Valour will have to show that they've put their time off to good use and developed an effective plan for this contest, instead of letting rust get the better of them against a side hungry to start scoring. Gale will likely have spent much of the break preparing a new strategy for his midfield, now that Valour have confirmation that Josip Golubar will miss the rest of the season.​

FC Edmonton: Connor James; Bruno Zebie, Mele Temguia, Kareem Moses, Jeannot Esua; Ramon Soria, James Marcelin; Randy Edwini-Bonsu, Ajeej Sarkaria, Marcus Velado-Tsegaye; Tomi Ameobi

Valour FC: Tyson Farago; Martin Arguinarena, Jordan Murrell, Skylar Thomas, Raphael Garcia; Dylan Sacramento, Louis Beland-Goyette; Marco Bustos, Diego Gutierrez, Michael Petrasso; Stephen Hoyle



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