Canadian Premier League — Match #42 Forge FC vs. Valour FC July 20, 2019 — Tim Hortons Field (3:30 p.m. ET) Watch Live: OneSoccer.ca

Hoping to finally get back in the win column, Valour FC heads to Hamilton to play the surging Forge FC on Saturday.

Valour broke a six-game (all competitions) losing streak with a 0-0 draw on Wednesday at FC Edmonton, a water-logged affair that took much longer than usual to complete due to weather delays. Although it wasn't much of an offensive spectacle, head coach Rob Gale and his players were happy to pick up a point in their first outing of the Fall season.

At the other end of the form spectrum right now, Forge has been playing some of the most exciting soccer in the CPL recently. They beat HFX Wanderers FC at home in the midweek triple-header, with Tristan Borges and Kyle Bekker both scoring long-distance curlers from way out wide. That was Forge's second win from three played in the Fall campaign, although they've been fairly dominant offensively in all three.

These sides have met twice before, of course, and Forge took both games. Valour's last visit to Tim Hortons Field was a firecracker of a match, with Marco Bustos scoring a first-minute screamer and Forge redeeming their Spring title hopes with a dramatic late comeback.

With neither side competing in the Canadian Championship, they'll both get the week off to prepare for matches next Saturday, July 27. Valour finally returns home to IG Field, where they'll take on Cavalry FC (3:30 p.m. ET, 2:30 p.m. CT, on OneSoccer). Forge is back on the road, heading west to play the CPL's other Alberta club in FC Edmonton (6:00 p.m. ET, 4:00 p.m. MT, on OneSoccer).

KEYS TO THE MATCH

  • Borges is back: The CPL's most prolific goalscorer to date has two jaw-dropping goals in the last two games. Is it safe to say that, after a brief lull, he's back in form? It seems he's slowly returning to full health, which bodes well for him to continue filling the net, and in his last few appearances he's been Forge's best player in terms of shot generation, as he often was earlier in the season.​
  • Get off the ground: Perhaps more than any other club, the start of the Fall season has been like a fresh start for Valour. They had 17 days off after their Canada Day defeat to York9 FC, and thus had plenty of time to gear up for a new set of fixtures. They didn't quite manage to take off against FC Edmonton, perhaps a little thrown off by the weather delays, so this match is their second chance to launch (although they could hardly face a hotter opponent than Forge right now). Still, if Rob Gale can light a fire under his attacking players to finally start scoring some goals, it could all turn around in a flash.​
  • Between the sticks: The goalkeeper could well be the most important player on the pitch for Valour in this one. The last three Forge outings were marked by a flood of shots on target for Bobby Smyrniotis' attackers, including an astonishing 11 last weekend against Pacific FC. Expect Tyson Farago (Valour's probable starting keeper) to be a very busy man on Saturday as Forge will surely come at their opponents with a similar fervour.​

PROJECTED LINEUPS

Forge FC: Triston Henry; Kwame Awuah, Bertrand Owundi, Daniel Krutzen, Jonathan Grant; Kyle Bekker, Alexander Achinioti-Jonsson, Elimane Cisse; Emery Welshman, Marcel Zajac, Tristan Borges

Valour FC: Tyson Farago; Martin Arguinarena, Adam Mitter, Skylar Thomas, Jordan Murrell; Diego Gutierrez, Raphael Ohin; Dylan Sacramento, Marco Bustos, Dylan Carreiro, Tyler Attardo


HEAD TO HEAD

May 16 - Valour FC 0-2 Forge FC June 15 - Forge FC 2-1 Valour FC

STATS LEADERS

Tristan Borges - 7 goals (Forge FC) Tyler Attardo - 2 goals (Valour FC)

INJURIES

Anthony Novak (Forge FC) - Doubtful Josip Golubar (Valour FC) - Out (ACL) Michael Petrasso (Valour FC) - Out Ali Musse (Valour FC) – Out

INTERNATIONAL DUTY

None

SUSPENSIONS

None

ACCUMULATION (Players are suspended for one match 14 days after accumulating a 4th Yellow Card)

Kadell Thomas (Forge FC) - 3 Jordan Murrell (Valour FC) - 3


REFEREES

Referee: Scott Bowman ARs: Lyes Arfa & Travis Lefebvre 4th Official: Carly Shaw-MacLaren


FANTASY PREDICTOR Download the Centre Circle app to play predictor ahead of each match.

Q: Will a single player score more than 1 goal?

A: So far in the CanPL season, braces have been few and far between. Don't expect that to change.

Q: Will the home team have more possession?

A: So far in the Spring Competition Forge, Pacific and Cavalry have been averaging 57.8%, 50.1% and 53.8% possession respectively. In this case, Forge seems to be the only home team that can be relied upon to out-posses the visiting club.

Q: Will a player with the letter "E" in their surname score?

A: Borges, Campbell and Telfer: Do you want to bet against them?

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