PREVIEW: Forge FC vs. FC Edmonton – Match #18

A well-rested FC Edmonton are out to the Hammer this week to take on Forge FC, who will hope to keep their momentum rolling on a short turnaround after Saturday’s 2-0 win at York9 FC. The Eddies are the team we’ve seen the least of so far, with only three games played (1-1-1). With a bye in the Canadian Championship as well, they haven’t played since losing their Al Classico matchup with Cavalry on May 18. Jeff Paulus’ team was convincing in their 2-1 season-opening win over Valour FC, but they haven’t scored since, drawing their home opener 0-0 with Pacific and losing 1-0 to Cavalry. On the other hand, we’ve seen a lot of Forge. Their six games played is more than anyone in the league, and they’ve got three wins and a draw to show for it. They played spoiler to York9’s home opener over the weekend, coming out firing from the rain delay and scoring twice. Head coach Bobby Smyrniotis will be back on the touchline to manage his side on Wednesday, after missing the weekend's action with a suspension. Wednesday’s game begins FC Edmonton’s run of three games in eight days, as they head back home on Saturday to host Valour (6:30 p.m. ET, 4:30 p.m. MT/OneSoccer) before it’s out to York9 for a Canadian Championship tie next Wednesday (7:00 p.m. ET/OneSoccer). Forge will remain at home, hosting Cavalry FC next Tuesday in the Canadian Championship (7:30 p.m. ET/OneSoccer).

• Wear them out: The Eddies are much fresher than Forge right now, with 11 days off between games compared to their opponents’ four. So, the visitors will want to come out of the gate with a lot of energy, hoping that Forge succumbs to their fatigue as the game progresses.

• Talent up front: These two sides boast some of the most dangerous players at the top of their lineups. It hasn’t quite materialized for FC Edmonton yet (two goals from three games), but it’s only a matter of time before Randy Edwini-Bonsu and Tomi Ameobi start filling the net. Forge leads the league with 10 goals, three of which came from Tristan Borges. Their talented attackers have been producing for the most part, and Emery Welshman (one goal so far) could start dominating at any moment.

• Bench impact: The bad news for Forge is that they can’t really fit all of Borges, Welshman, Kadell Thomas, Chris Nanco, and Anthony Novak into one starting 11. That means their bench is a force to be reckoned with, though. Nanco scored as a substitute on Saturday, and Thomas has shown that he can do the same. A supersub or two could make the difference for Bobby Smyrniotis’s tired club.

Forge FC: Triston Henry; Kwame Awuah, Bertrand Owundi, Dominic Samuel, Giuliano Frano; Elimane Oumar Cissé, Kyle Bekker, Alexander Achinioti Jonsson; Tristan Borges, Anthony Novak, Emery Welshman FC Edmonton: Connor James; Allan Zebie, Mélé Temguia, Amer Didic, Kareem Moses; Ramon Soria, James Marcelin; Son Yong-Chan, Philippe Lincourt-Joseph, Randy Edwini-Bonsu; Tomi Ameobi

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