PREVIEW: HFX Wanderers vs. FC Edmonton – Match #80

Saturday features a clash between the Canadian Premier League’s two most-underperforming clubs this Fall season, with the already-eliminated HFX Wanderers welcoming FC Edmonton to Wanderers Grounds. The Wanderers were officially eliminated from contention last week with a nil-nil draw against Valour FC in Halifax. FC Edmonton are still technically in contention for the Fall title, although a single Forge win, Cavalry win or Eddies loss would see them bow out. RELATED READING: Stephen Hart offers blunt assessment of Wanderers' season | FCE's Ongaro already setting his sights on 2020 scoring title Last Saturday’s draw was HFX’s third in a row, and the team is winless in six, so Stephen Hart's side will look to pick up just their third win in the Fall campaign. FCE sit just above HFX in the Fall standings on 13 points, most of which came early in the Fall campaign. Winless in seven matches, including a 3-1 loss to York9 FC, the Eddies will look to right the ship at a stadium where only one road team (Cavalry FC) has managed to grab a win. Up next for HFX is a continent-spanning trip to VanIse to face Pacific FC on Wednesday (10:00 p.m. ET/7:00 p.m. PT, available on OneSoccer). The Eddies will also return to action Wednesday with a home match against Forge FC (9:00 p.m. ET/7:00 p.m. PT, available on OneSoccer).

• Goals at a premium: Wanderers Grounds likely won’t see too many goals Saturday as both clubs are in a rut. The Wanderers haven’t scored more than a single goal at home since July 10. A moment of individual brilliance from Elton John was all that gave the Wanderers a goal last time out. The Eddies have only scored once in the past five matches. Whoever scores first will have a major advantage, to say the least.​
• Keep sturdy at the back: A second-half collapse and a 90-plus-minute equalizer were the difference in HFX’s recent home-and-home with league-leading Forge FC. As Hart has said, his side needs to stay concentrated late into matches, something that could lead to second-half goals on Saturday, if they’re not careful.​
• Slice and dice: With the Eddies seemingly locked to their 4-3-3 set up, Jeff Paulus has some tough line-up choices to make. Tomi Ameobi and Easton Ongaro, both oversized attackers, can’t both play as the central attacking focal point. Young players Marcus Velado-Tsegaye and David Doe were brought in to FCE’s starting XI last week, likely as a late-season run-out, but their directness and line-breaking runs could be of greater use to Paulus on the wings, especially as Oumar Diouck appears out with injury. Could see another winger combo Saturday?​

HFX Wanderers FC: Christian Oxner; Chrisnovic N'Sa, Andre Bona, Matthew Arnone, Alex De Carolis; Mohamed Kourouma, Juan Diego Gutierrez, Elton John, Andre Rampersad; Akeem Garcia, Tomasz Skublak FC Edmonton: Connor James; Allan Zebie, Mélé Temguia, Amer Didic, Kareem Moses; Ramon Soria, James Marcelin, Ajay Khabra, Marcus Velado-Tsegaye; Easton Ongaro, Tomi Ameobi

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